a necessity, to be practical, for the fishermen have brought experience to bear upon the scientific information that research men receive, so that there is a practical application of the research.

I have mentioned that we have consulted with probably all of the organizations interested in the area and we actually had four men on the official American delegation from the States and industry: Thomas Fulham, Wayne D. Heydecker, Patrick McHugh, and Richard Reed. All of those men were on our delegation. In addition, we had many other advisers. So that the convention was negotiated in as full and open a manner as any convention of that kind can be.

The report of the United States delegation which negotiated the convention will make this point doubly clear, and I should like to submit it for the record.

Now I have no further statement to make on the Northwest Atlantic. Senator GREEN. The report of the delegation will be inserted at this point.

In your prepared statement, which you summarize, is there any statement of the depletion of the fish in these areas?

Dr. CHAPMAN. That will be included in Mr. James's statement. Senator GREEN. I think we should have that on record.

Dr. CHAPMAN. Yes; it will be included in his statement on record.

REFORT OF THE DELEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE INTERNATIONAL NORTHWEST ATLANTIC FISHERIES CONFERENCE, HELD AT WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 26 THROUGH FEBRUARY 8, 1949

BACKGROUND

The value of the fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean has been recognized since early in the history of the North American Continent. For centuries the nationals of North American and western and southern European countries have fished portions of this important area. As a result of the international interest

in certain fisheries of the area, a number of treaties dealing with accessory rights on shore and in adjacent waters have been developed and adjusted from time to time over the years. Until recently, however, consideration was not given to the desirability of formal international cooperation in the conservation and development of the fishery resources in question.

The increasing recognition of the seriousness of the existing and potential depletion of commercially important species of fish in the northern Atlantic resulted in an international conference in London in 1937. It was, at that time, considered feasible to treat the entire North Atlantic as a single conservation unit. The International Convention for the Regulation of Meshes of Fishing Nets and the Size Limits of Fish which was concluded at this conference was accordingly designed to apply to the entire North Atlantic.

The 1937 convention did not enter into force and the British Government, therefore, convened other international conferences in London in October 1943 and April 1946 to reconsider this general problem. The United States participated at these international overfishing conferences with observer delegations, and after discussions with the other states contiguous to the Northwest Atlantic, suggested that there were actually two areas in the North Atlantic which were readily separable because of the nationals concerned and the stocks of fish and problems involved. It was, therefore, proposed that consideration be given to the desirability of separate treatment for the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic. agreement of the 1946 conference to this concept is evidenced by the fact that the convention which resulted from the work of the Conference set the western boundary of the convention area at 42 degrees west longitude. It is noted that the present convention, accordingly, sets the eastern boundary of the area to which it applies at 42 degrees west longitude.

The

The need for formal international cooperative action in the investigation and conservation of fishery resources in the Northwest Atlantic has become increasingly apparent. This seems particularly evident with respect to the very valuable bottom-living species which constitute the mainstay of the New England

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fishing industry. At the present time the stocks of these species on the 1 England Banks are at a relatively low level of abundance. The number of r ketable-sized haddock is now at an all time low. In an effort to continue brin in haddock to satisfy the large demand, the industry has been compelled to re to fishing for immature fish with the result that it is seriously decreasing potential production of this fishery. Fishing for rosefish has been very heavy recent years and the abundance of this fish has been gradually reduced to point where United States vessels have to steam much farther from port in or to find commercial quantities. The catches of cod from the New England bar are likewise reduced and similarly an increasing number of lengthy and expens trips to the Nova Scotian banks have become necessary. Catches of halibut hɛ gradually dwindled through the years until today they constitute an insignifica quantity.

The United States otter trawl fleet operating in these fisheries is at present larg than at any other time in history and indications are that it will become ev larger. In addition, the fleets of many foreign countries are rapidly expandi operations in an attempt to satisfy the great world food demand. The Nor Sea and other important European fishing areas have apparently become deplete to such an extent that they produce only a fraction of former poundages. It possible that the depletion of European banks will result in a shift in the operation of many European vessels to the Northwest Atlantic. With the expected heav exploitation of the fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic, the question of maintainin the highest possible sustained yield becomes increasingly important and urgent The present scarcity of fish on the New England banks, and the probable increas in fishing pressure by our own and by foreign vessels in the Northwest Atlanti indicates the great value of providing means for determining the necessary fact: relative to the abundance of stocks of fish and what measures are necessary in order to maintain and increase the productivity of those stocks.

CONFERENCE ARRANGEMENTS

In view of these facts and the international character of the problems involved and since effective machinery for the investigation and, where necessary, conservation of international fisheries in this area could only be provided through formal international cooperation to this end, the United States of America issued invitations for a conference to be held in Washington, beginning January 26, 1949. Invitations were issued to those countries currently interested in the fisheries of the area including those which have coast lines contiguous to the area.

The International Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Conference convened at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D. C., on January 26, 1949, under the chairmanship of Dr. Wilbert M. Chapman, special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Fisheries and Wildlife and the chairman of the United States delegation. The business of the Conference was continued on January 27, 28, 29, and 31 and on February 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 and concluded on February 8, 1949, with the opening of the final documents of the conference for signature.

PARTICIPATION

The countries represented by plenipotentiary delegations were as follows: The United States of America, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Newfoundland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea were represented by observers.

UNITED STATES DELEGATION

The American delegates were Dr. Wilbert M. Chapman, special assistant to the Under Secretary for Fisheries and Wildlife, Department of State, Chairman; Dr. William E. S. Flory, deputy special assistant to the Under Secretary of Fisheries and Wildlife, Department of State: Dr. Hilary J. Deason, Chief, Office of Foreign Activities, Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Interior; and Frederick L. Zimmermann, consultant on fisheries and wildlife, Department of State. They were assisted by Thomas Fulham, president, Federated Fishing Boats of New England and New York, Inc.; Wayne D. Heydecker, secretarytreasurer, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; Milton C. James, Assistant Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Interior; Patrick McHugh, secretary-treasurer, Atlantic Fishermen's Union (AFL); Capt. Harold C. Moore, Coordinator for Interdepartmental and International Affairs, United States Coast

Guard, Department of the Treasury; and Richard Reed, commissioner, sea and shore fisheries, State, of Maine, who served as advisers. Edward Castleman, Office of the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Fisheries and Wildlife, Department of State, served as secretary to the delegation.

Facilities for the functioning of the Conference were provided by the International Conferences Division of the Department of State, and the United States Government, as host, provided the secretariat. The United States delegation had at its disposal a delegation office and a conference room.

OPENING PLENARY SESSION

The first plenary session of the International Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Conference was opened by Mr. Clarke L. Willard, Secretary General of the Conference. Dr. Wilbert M. Chapman, acting as temporary chairman, introduced the Honorable Willard L. Thorp, Assistant Secretary of State, who welcomed the delegates on behalf of the Government of the United States. Mr. Thorp stressed the importance of conservation with particular reference to this age when the world is struggling to meet its overwhelming food demands, and pointed out that the long-term maintenance of highest productive capacity in each of the food resources is imperative. He indicated that we must seek to understand the fundamentals of the resources in order to guard against a decrease in potential production, and that the techniques for such investigations, by their nature, require international cooperation. Mr. Thorp called attention to the fact that it is upon the results of such investigations that measures to insure sustained production of the North west Atlantic fisheries can be ascertained. Mr. A. T. A. Dobson, chairman of the United Kingdom delegation and first vice president of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, expressed appreciation to Assistant Secretary Thorp on behalf of all the delegations. He pointed to the example of the decline in the fisheries of the North Sea where efforts are at last being made to arrest the evil and stated that the present Conference afforded a great opportunity for cooperative efforts to meet such problems in the Northwest Atlantic area.

ORGANIZATION OF CONFERENCE

Dr. Wilbert M. Chapman, chairman of the United States delegation, was elected Chairman of the Conference and Mr. Klaus Sunnanaa, chairman of the Norwegian delegation, was elected Vice Chairman.

COMMITTEES

The Conference selected two organizing committees, executive and credentials, with membership as follows:

Executive committee: Wilbert M. Chapman (United States), Chairman; Stewart Bates (Canada); B. Dinesen (Denmark); Marius Terrin (France); Thor Thors (Iceland); Alberto Tarchiani (Italy); Raymond Gushue (Newfoundland); Klaus Sunnanaa (Norway); Rear Adm. Manuel C. Meyrelles (Portgual); German Baraibar (Spain); A. T. A. Dobson (United Kingdom): William E. S. Flory (United States); Arthur C. Nagle, secretary.

Committee on credentials: Marius Terrin (France)-chairman; Stewart Bates (Canada); German Baraibar (Spain); Charles I. Bevans, secretary.

Working meetings were held as committee of the whole participated in by all delegations.

Two technical committees, drafting and biological, were established with membership as follows:

Committee on drafting: A. T. A. Dobson (United Kingdom)-chairman; Steward Bates (Canada); B. Dinesen (Denmark); Marius Terrin (France); H. G. Andersen (Iceland); Alberto Tarchiani (Italy); Raymond Gushue (Newfoundland); Klaus Sunnanaa (Norway); Dr. Correa de Barros (Portugal); German Baraibar (Spain); A. J. Aglen (United Kingdom); Wilbert M. Chapman (United States); Barbara S. Williams-secretary.

Committee on biology: A. W. H. Needler (Canada)-chairman; A. Vedel Taning (Denmark); Paul Hansen (Denmark); Jean Joseph Le Gall (France); Arni Fridriksson (Iceland); W. Templeman (Newfoundland); Gunnar Rollefsen (Norway); Alfredo M. Ramalho (Portugal); Jose Miguel Ruiz-Morales (Spain); Pedro Diaz de Espada (Spain); S. J. Holt (United Kingdom); C. E. Lucas (United Kingdom); R. S. Wimpenny (United Kingdom); Hilary J. Deason (United States); Milton C. James (United States); Howard A. Schuck-secretary.

The drafting committee also selected a subdrafting committee consisting of representatives of Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, and the United States

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SECRETARIAT

Mr. Clarke L. Willard, Associate Chief, Division of International confer Department of State of the United States, served as secretary general d Conference; Charles I. Bevans, Deputy Assistant for Treaty Affairs, Office Legal Adviser, Department of State of the United States, served as treat viser to the Conference and Donald J. Chaney, chief counsel, Fish and Wi Service, Department of the Interior of the United States, served as tech secretary of the Conference.

LANGUAGES

The draft rules of procedure proposed by the United States were adopted by Conference with an amendment recommended by the Executive Committe the effect that "English shall be the official and working language of the Cor ence. The use of French in the discussions of the Conference is permitted w necessary."

PRESS

The opening and closing plenary sessions were open to the public. All c mittee sessions were closed to the press and conference relations with the p were handled through a press officer.

ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS

There was an official reception for the delegates at the Shoreham Hotel af the opening plenary session. Assistant Secretary of State and Mrs. Willard Thorp received for the United States. The Portuguese Ambassador, the Canadi Ambassador, and the Icelandic Minister also held receptions.

AGENDA UNITED STATES DRAFT

The Conference used as a basis for discussion a draft convention submitted f this purpose by the United States delegation.

WORK OF THE COMMITTEES

The work of the committees was highly important to the success of the Confer ence. There were only two plenary sessions, since the working sessions consiste of meetings of the committee of the whole which spent 16 meetings, covering period of 12 working days, in the development of the convention. The work o the technical committees was, of course, essential to the successful conclusion of the convention, since practically all major points of difference were referred to such committees. The committees submitted the following number of reports executive committee, 1; credentials committee, 2; drafting committee, 2; biological committee, 5.

PUBLICATIONS

The final documents of the Conference were (I) The Final Act, and (II) The International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries.

CLOSING PLENARY SESSION

At the closing plenary session, held on February 8, the Conference approved the International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries and the Final Act which were presented to it by the committee of the whole. At this time the convention and Final Act were opened for signature to remain open for a period of 14 days. During this period both documents were signed by all of the participant plenipotentiary delegations, namely, the delegations of Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Newfoundland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. For reasons described in the following section of this report the French and Spanish delegations signed reserving paragraph 2 of article I of the convention.

The observer delegations from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea signed the Final Act.

CONCLUSIONS

(a) Summary of conference work-The convention

The convention formulated by the Conference is designed primarily to provide for international cooperation in the coordination, collation, and dissemination of

information concerning the fisheries of the northwest Atlantic Ocean, but also provides a procedure for cooperative action by the contracting governments regarding measures deemed necessary in the maintenance of a maximum sustained yield from the fisheries.

The International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, hereinafter referred to as "the convention," applies to an area, excepting territorial waters, generally within the boundaries of 39° north latitude on the south, 42° west longitude on the east up to the southern tip of Greenland and along the western coast of Greenland northward to 78°10' north latitude and a western boundary of the coasts of Canada and the United States. The over-all area is divided into five subareas covering waters off (1) the west coast of Greenland, (2) Labrador, (3) Newfoundland, (4) Nova Scotia, and (5) New England, as described in the Annex to the Convention. The subareas can only be altered upon unanimous recommendation of the panel or panels affected.

The exclusion of territorial waters from the convention area raised the question of the definition of territorial waters and resulted in the inclusion in the convention of article I, paragraph 2 which reads, "Nothing in this convention shall be deemed to affect adversely (prejudice) the claims of any contracting government in regard to the limits of territorial waters or to the jurisdiction of a coastal state over fisheries." Much discussion at the Conference centered around this clause as it affected the general question of territorial waters. The Conference finally approved the clause with the exception of the French and Spanish delegations, who included a statement in the Final Act indicating that they could not agree to paragraph 2 of article I, and therefore signed with reservation. The reservation was made since the Conference, with the exception of the French and Spanish delegations, considered that article I, paragraph 2 merely indicated that this convention did not in any way affect the question of territorial or other jurisdiction, while the French and Spanish delegations considered that if any mention were made it should contain a clear definition of the limits of jurisdiction, which limits could not be modified without the consent of all contracting governments.

The convention establishes an International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries in which each contracting government shall have one vote and to which it may appoint not more than three Commissioners, who may be aided by experts and advisers. Decisions of the Commission are to be taken by a two-thirds majority of the votes of all the contracting governments. The Commission, as a whole, is responsible, in the field of scientific investigation, for obtaining, collating, and disseminating the information necessary for maintaining those stocks of fish supporting international fisheries in the convention area. For this purpose it is to collaborate with or act through existing agencies, and, when necessary, it may act independently. In the Final Act the Conference states that it is not contemplated that independent investigations conducted by Commission personnel or equipment would include field operations. The contracting governments are required to furnish the Commission with the necessary statistical information at the time and in the form the Commission shall designate. The convention includes a panel form of organization within the framework of the Commission. There are five panels, one for each of the five subareas mentioned above. The panels will not exercise direct regulatory powers but will have the power through the Commission, to recommend measures to the contracting governments for maintaining the fisheries in its subarea at a level permitting the maximum sustained catch. As in the case of investigations, such proposals for joint action would be limited to "the stocks of those species of fish which support international fisheries in the Convention area." This definition was a recommendation of the Biological Committee. The word "fish" was used in order to exclude mollusks or crustacea which were not considered to be of international interest, since they are primarily taken within territorial waters.

For 2 years after the Convention has been in force panel representation for each subarea shall be as follows: Subarea I: Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom; subarea II: Denmark, France, Italy, Newfoundland; subarea III: Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Newfoundland, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom; subarea IV: Canada, France, Italy, Newfoundland, Portugal, Spain, United States; subarea V: Canada, United States. This list, contained in the Annex to the Convention, may be modified by the time the convention enters into force, since it is provided that until that time any signatory or adhering government may withdraw from or be added to the list of panel members for any subarea. After the convention has been in force for 2 years, panel representation will be reviewed annually by the Commission, which shall have the power, subject to consultation with the panel concerned, to determine representation on the basis of current substantial exploitation of fishes of the cod group, of flat fish, and of