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Recent Developments in High Seas Fisheries Jurisdiction Under the Presidential Proclamation of 1945
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 April 2017
Extract
On September 28, 1945, the President of the United States issued two proclamations asserting jurisdiction and control for certain purposes over areas of the high seas. These proclamations suggested the introduction of a new element into United States policy with regard to high seas jurisdiction even though the press release of September 28, 1945, which accompanied the proclamations, indicated that they did not purport to “extend the present limits of the territorial waters of the United States.”
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- Copyright © American Society of International Law 1950
References
1 59 TJ. S. Stat. L. 884, 885; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 40 (1946), pp. 45, 46. See Borchard, “Resources of the Continental Shelf,” this JOURNAL, Vol. 40 (1946), p. 53.
2 Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. XIII (Sept. 30, 1945), p. 484.
3 Discussed by Richard Young, “ Recent Developments with Respect to the Continental Shelf,” this JOURNAL, Vol. 42 (1948), p. 849.
4 59 U. S. Stat. L. 885; this JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 40 (1946), p. 47; see comments by J. W. Bingham, this JOURNAL, Vol. 40 (1946), p. 173; B. W. Allen, 21 Wash. Law Review (1946) 1.
5 W. M. Chapman, “The Management of Marine Resources,” address made before the Fishing Industry Conference of Maine at Rockland, Maine, Aug. 5, 1949.
6 For example, certain fish of the North Sea (such as the plaice); the halibut and sockeye salmon of the North Pacific Ocean; the Bering Sea fur-seal herds; and whales throughout most of the world.
7 See A. P. Daggett, “ The Regulation of Maritime Fisheries by Treaty,” this JOURNAL, Vol. 28 (1934), p. 693; L. L. Leonard, International Regulation of Fisheries (Wash., 1944) ; S. S. Hayden, The International Protection of Wild Life (N. Y., 1942) ; J. Tomasevich, International Agreements on Conservation of Marine Resources (Stanford, 1943); and H. E. Gregory and K. Barnes, North Pacific Fisheries (N. Y., 1939).
8 W. M. Chapman, “United States Policy on High Seas Fisheries,” Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. XX, No. 498 (Jan. 16, 1949), p. 69, and note 7 supra.
9 U. S. Dept. of State Press Releases, Vol. XVIII (Jan.-June, 1938), pp. 412-417. The U. S. Government made a statement in this regard to the Japanese Government, stating, inter alia, that: “ The American Government must view with distinct concern the depletion of the salmon resources of Alaska. These resources have been developed and preserved primarily by steps taken by the American Government in cooperation with private interests to promote propagation and permanency of supply. But for these efforts, carried on over a period of years, and but for consistent adherence to a policy of conservation, the Alaska salmon fisheries unquestionably would not have reached anything like their present state of development.
“ … the American Government believes that the safeguarding of these resources involves important principles of equity and justice. It must be taken as a sound principle of justice that an industry such as described which has been built up by the nationals of one country cannot in fairness be left to be destroyed by the nationals of other countries… . ” Ibid., pp. 414, 416-417.
10 J. W. Bingham, Report on the International Law of Pacific Coastal Fisheries (Stanford, 1938).
11 See P. C. Jessup, “The Pacific Coast Fisheries,” this JOUBNAL, Vol. 33 (1939), p. 129.
12 William W. Bishop, Jr., “ The Exercise of Jurisdiction for Special Purposes in High Seas Areas beyond the Outer Limit of Territorial Waters {e.g., Conservation, etc.),” address made before the Inter-American Bar Association, Sixth Conference, Detroit May, 1949.
13 Supra, p. 670.
14 Chapman, loc. cit., p. 69.
15 For a discussion of these proclamations by other coastal nations see article by Young, cited supra.
16 Decrees No. 1,386/44, and No. 14,708/46, Boletin Oficial de la Republica Argentina, March 17, 1944, and Dec. 5, 1946; for translation of 1946 Declaration, see this JOUKNAL, Supp., Vol. 41 (1947), p. 11.
17 El Mercurio (Santiago), June 29, 1947.
18 Decree No. 781, El Peruana —Diario Oficial, Aug. 11, 1947; also in Revista Peruana de Derecho International, Vol. 7 (1947), p. 301.
19 This JOURNAL, Supp., Vol. 43 (1949), p. 154. See note by Richard Young entitled “Saudi Arabian Offshore Legislation,” this JOURNAL, Vol. 43 (1949), p. 530.
20 Excelsior (Mexico City), Oct. 30, 1945.
21 Translation by the U. S. Department of State.
22 San José, La Gaceta, July 29, 1948, p. 1.
23 Cong. Rec. (81st Cong., 1st Sess.), Vol. 95, pp. 11867-8; and Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. XX, No. 501 (Feb. 6, 1949), p. 174.
24 Ex. K. (81st Cong., 1st Sess.), p. 3.
25 Cong. Rec, loc. cit., pp. 11868-9; and Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. XX, No. 519 (June 12, 1949), p. 766.
26 Ex. P (81st Cong., 1st Sess.), p. 3.
27 The tuna industry of the United States has experienced an extraordinary growth within the last twenty years and is now the richest of our offshore fisheries. The principal fishery grounds are on the high seas off the Pacific Coast of the American Continent, from Mexico southward to northern Peru. About 90 percent of the tuna catch landed by American fishermen is taken in these waters, and the American catch accounts for about 95 percent of the total amount of tuna harvested in this area by all countries. Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, July 14, 1949, printed in The Fisheries Conventions (U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Wash., D. C, 1949), pp. 54-55.
28 The Secretary of State announced Aug. 18, 1949, that the Senate had unanimously advised ratification of these two treaties, as well as the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Treaty (Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. XXI, No. 531 (Sept. 5, 1949), p. 355). The President ratified them on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 1949. (Information furnished by the Department of State.)
29 Cong. Rec, Vol. 95, pp. 11860-5; and XJ. S. Dept. of State, Documents and State Papers, Vol. 1 (1948-49), pp. 711-716.
30 For an historical treatment of this area, see Charles Carter and Staff, “Treaties Affecting the Northeastern Fisheries,” U. S. Tariff Commission Report No. 152, 2nd Ser. (1944).
31 The International Convention for the Regulation of the Meshes of Fishing Nets and the Size and limits of Fish, London, March 23, 1937, published as Misc. No. 5 (1937), Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs Laid before Parliament; and the International Overfishing Convention, London, April 5, 1946, published as Misc. No. 7 (1946), ibid.
32 Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. XIX, No. 491 (Nov. 28, 1948), p. 669.
33 Ibid., Vol. XX, No. 506 (March 13, 1949), p. 319.
34 Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, July 14, 1949, printed in The Fisheries Conventions (U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Wash., D. C, 1949), pp. 54-55.
35 Sen. Ex. Rept. No. 11, 81st Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 3-4.
36 Art. I l l of the London Overfishing Convention of April 5, 1946, reads: “Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to prejudice the claims of any Contracting Government in regard to the limits of territorial waters.” Note 31, supra.
37 See P. C. Jessup, The Law of Territorial Waters and Maritime Jurisdiction (New York, 1927); W. E. Masterson, Jurisdiction in Marginal Seas (New York, 1929); S. Riesenfeld, Protection of Coastal Fisheries under International Law (Washington, 1942); and P. C. Jessup, “The Anti-Smuggling Act of 1935,” this JOURNAL, Vol. 31 (1937), p. 101.
38 Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State, to Mr. Hammond, British Minister, Nov. 8, 1793, I Moore's Digest 703; 39 Columbia Law Review (1939) 317, 321-322.
39 I Moore's Digest 704, 705; I Haekworth's Digest 631, 634, 637-8, 639, 640, 643.
40 Cunard S. 8. Co., Ltd. v. Mellon (1923), 262 TJ. S. 100.
41 Sec. 251, Title 46, U.S.C., and Sec. 4.96(a) of the Customs Regulations of 1943.
42 Supra, p. 671.
43 Note 2, supra.
44 Supra, p. 673.
45 Notes 23, 24, 25, 26, supra.
46 Supra, p. 677.
47 Note 28, supra.
48 Cong. Rec, Vol. 95, p. 11866.
49 Statement by W. M. Chapman, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State, before an executive hearing of the Subcommittee on Fisheries of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Thursday, May 25, 1950 (Unpublished; made available to the author by Dr. Chapman).
50 “United States Policy on High Seas Fisheries,” loc. cit., p. 71.