58 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 7 



International (Contd.): 



Party completed its assignment at a second 

 meeting in Rome in July 1965. The Confer- 

 ence of Plenipotentiaries reviewed the draft 

 prepared by the Working Party and altered 

 the language where necessary to resolve dif- 

 ferences of opinion. 



The Convention was signed by Brazil, 

 Spain, and the United States on May 15, 1966. 

 The treaty will enter into force when it has 

 been signed and ratified by seven nations. 

 Its purpose is to plan and coordinate scien- 

 tific research with the object of maintaining 

 the maximum sustainable yield of tunas and 

 tuna-like fishes in the entire Atlantic Ocean 

 and adjacent seas. All species of fish caught 

 by tuna fishing vessels, whether for food or 

 for other purposes, are covered by the Con- 

 vention. 



When the Convention enters into force, a 

 Commission will be established. Each Con- 

 tracting Party will be represented by not 

 more than three Delegates. The Commission 

 will establish Panels on the basis of species, 

 groups of species, or of geographic areas. 

 The budget of the Commission will be con- 

 tributed by member nations in the form of a 

 levy of US$1,000 for Commission member- 

 ship and US$1,000 for each Panel of which 

 the nation is a member. If the budget ex- 

 ceeds this amount, the additional contribu- 

 tions will be calculated in proportion to the 

 amount of contributions for Commission and 

 Panel membership, the round weight of tuna 

 caught in the Atlantic by the vessels of each 

 nation, and the net weight of Atlantic tuna 

 canned by each nation. 



The Commission will employ an Executive 

 Secretary and staff. Scientific studies and 

 collection of the necessary statistics will be 

 the responsibility of member nations, but the 

 Commission will review and coordinate plan- 

 ning and may conduct studies of its own. 

 Mechanisms were established for joint action 

 in enforcing regulations designed to main- 

 tain the resources at levels consistent with 

 maximum sustainable yields. 



Meetings of the Commission will be held 

 every 2 years. To guide its work in the in- 

 terim a Council will be established, made up 

 of the Chairman and 2 Vice-Chairmen of the 

 Commission, plus not less than 4 nor more 

 than 8 members. If Commission member- 

 ship exceeds 40 nations, 2 more members 



may be added to the Council. (Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries, June 1, 1 966.) 



Note: Copies of the Final Act of the Convention, a5 well as the 

 Convention itself, are available from: Branch of Foreign Fish- 

 eries, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. Department of the 

 Interior, Washington, D. C. 20240. 



INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE 

 NORTHWEST ATLANTIC FISHERIES 



PROTOCOL CONCERNING HARP AND 

 HOOD SEALS ENTERS INTO FORCE: 



The Protocol (done at Washington, July 15, 

 1963) intended to bring harp and hood seals 

 under the International Convention for the 

 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF) en- 

 tered into force April 29, 1966, with the of- 

 ficial ratification of Italy. Other meniber 

 countries of ICNAF had ratified previously. 



Of the thirteen member countries of ICNAF, 

 only four --Canada, Norway, Denmark, and 

 the U.S.S.R.--have been active regularly or 

 at intervals in the seal fishery of the north- 

 west Atlantic in recent years. Canada's con- 

 cern over the conservation of the resource 

 was reflected in that country's proposal, in- 

 formally accepted by the other countries 

 some years ago, to observe opening and clos- 

 ing dates for the seal fishery. 



Additional measures to conserve the seal 

 populations were to.be discussed at the an- 

 nual meeting of the International Commission 

 for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries which 

 opened in Madrid, June 6, 1966. Considera- 

 tion was to be given to the needs for an interna- 

 tionally coordinated program of essential re- 

 search and other matters designed to protect 

 and develop the seal stocks. (Canadian Depart- 

 ment of Fisheries, Ottawa, May 3, 1966.) 



Note: See Commercial Fisheries Review , Sept. 1965 p. 52. 

 NORWEGIAN-U.S.S.R. SEALING COMMISSION 



SEAL CONSERVATIQiN IN WHITE SEA: 



TheNorwegian-U.S.S.R. Sealing Commis- 

 sion is taking steps toprotectthe seals in the 

 White Sea in order to stop the serious de- 

 cline in their number. Only vessels of under 

 100 tons are allowed to seal in the White Sea, 

 and they are permitted only one trip a season. 

 (U.S. Embassy, Stockholm, May 3, 1966.) 



INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION 



PROPOSED REGULATION OF 

 LAND STATION WHALING 

 IN SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: 



On May 16, 1966, the International Whaling 

 Commission notified member countries of a 



