38
J. A. GULLAND AND J. E. CARROZ
make it preferable t o draw up regulations in relation to the needs of
particular fishing areas, by agreement between the nations directly
concerned.
The general problem of the rules applicable t o the high seas was
selected by the United Nations in 1949 for consideration as a topic for
codification by the International Law Commission. The draft articles
prepared by the Commission in 1951 contained a provision proposing
that it would be the duty of states to accept as binding upon their
nationals any system of fisheries regulation in any area of the high seas
where an international authority believed that such measures were
essential for the protection of the resources against waste or extermination. This international authority was to be created within the framework of the United Nations and could have acted at the request of any
interested state. The provision concerned was not, however, retained
in the final version of the draft articles submitted to the 1958 United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.
The 1958 Conference adopted several international instruments,
including a Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living
Resources of the High Seas. The Convention, which came into force in
1966, is the first attempt t o deal with the problem generally on a world
scale. Its scope is of necessity limited and i t aims mainly at promoting
the adoption of conservation measures and a t providing for machinery
designed to facilitate the settlement of disputes. It also contains
provisions stressing the special interests of coastal states in the maintenance of the productivity of the living resources in any area of the
high seas adjacent to their territorial sea and their right to take part
on an equal footing in any system of research and regulation for the
conservation of the living resources in that area, even though their
nationals do not carry on fishing there.
The 1958 Conference fully realized that the Convention referred to
above would have to be supplemented by special and regional agreements. It adopted a resolution recommending that the states concerned
should co-operate in establishing the necessary conservation measures
through international conservation bodies covering particular areas of
the high seas or particular species of living marine resources. It also
recommended that these bodies should be used, in so far as practicable,
for the conduct of negotiations on conservation measures envisaged in
the Convention, for the settlement of disputes and for the implementation of agreed conservation measures. I n the resolution, the Conference
specifically referred t o the report of the International Technical
Conference on the Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea,
which had been convened in 1955 to make appropriate scientific and
J. A. GULLAND AND J. E. CARROZ
make it preferable t o draw up regulations in relation to the needs of
particular fishing areas, by agreement between the nations directly
concerned.
The general problem of the rules applicable t o the high seas was
selected by the United Nations in 1949 for consideration as a topic for
codification by the International Law Commission. The draft articles
prepared by the Commission in 1951 contained a provision proposing
that it would be the duty of states to accept as binding upon their
nationals any system of fisheries regulation in any area of the high seas
where an international authority believed that such measures were
essential for the protection of the resources against waste or extermination. This international authority was to be created within the framework of the United Nations and could have acted at the request of any
interested state. The provision concerned was not, however, retained
in the final version of the draft articles submitted to the 1958 United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.
The 1958 Conference adopted several international instruments,
including a Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living
Resources of the High Seas. The Convention, which came into force in
1966, is the first attempt t o deal with the problem generally on a world
scale. Its scope is of necessity limited and i t aims mainly at promoting
the adoption of conservation measures and a t providing for machinery
designed to facilitate the settlement of disputes. It also contains
provisions stressing the special interests of coastal states in the maintenance of the productivity of the living resources in any area of the
high seas adjacent to their territorial sea and their right to take part
on an equal footing in any system of research and regulation for the
conservation of the living resources in that area, even though their
nationals do not carry on fishing there.
The 1958 Conference fully realized that the Convention referred to
above would have to be supplemented by special and regional agreements. It adopted a resolution recommending that the states concerned
should co-operate in establishing the necessary conservation measures
through international conservation bodies covering particular areas of
the high seas or particular species of living marine resources. It also
recommended that these bodies should be used, in so far as practicable,
for the conduct of negotiations on conservation measures envisaged in
the Convention, for the settlement of disputes and for the implementation of agreed conservation measures. I n the resolution, the Conference
specifically referred t o the report of the International Technical
Conference on the Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea,
which had been convened in 1955 to make appropriate scientific and