MANAGEMENT OF FISHERY RESOURCES
43
the right to control the general application of conservation measures on
the high seas as among the contracting parties. They prescribe, with
certain differences of detail, a procedure whereby duly authorized
officials of any member country may search and seize vessels of other
member countries which are acting in violation of the convention or of
regulations adopted under it. Such vessels must be delivered as promptly
as practicable to the authorized officials of the member country having
jurisdiction over them. Only the authorities of that country may
conduct prosecutions and impose penalties.
Though these commissions with interactional control measures a t
present in operation have limited membership (a maximum of four
countries), efforts to ensure international control are not restricted to
commissions with a small membership or a limited species coverage.
The Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was amended to enable
the International Whaling Commission to deal with methods of
inspection, and an international observer scheme has been devised but
it has not yet proved possible to bring it into operation. Both the
International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries and the
North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission have also concerned themselves recently with the international enforcement of regulations in
their area of competence and they have the matter under active
consideration.
International control will become increasingly important, as it is
gradually being recognized that, when scientific evidence calls for
measures t o be taken, the purposes of conservation and management
can best be achieved by limiting the amount of fishing (fishing
mortality) either by control of the fishing effort or by regulation of the
amount of total catch.
The full benefit from limitation on fishing will, as mentioned earlier,
only be achieved with some system of allocation of the total quota,
whether of catch or of effort (e.g. days fishing).
Several conventions contain provisions on the manner in which the
yield from the resources is to be portioned among member countries.
The convention setting up the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries
Commission lays down the principle that the two member countries
(Canada and the U.S.A.) should share equally in the fishery and,
consequently, one of the tasks of the Commission is to regulate the
fishery with a view to allowing, as nearly as practicable, an equal
portion of the fish that may be caught each year to be taken by the
fishermen of each member country.
The convention establishing the North Pacific Fur Seal Commission,
which has four member countries, provides for a system of quotas to
43
the right to control the general application of conservation measures on
the high seas as among the contracting parties. They prescribe, with
certain differences of detail, a procedure whereby duly authorized
officials of any member country may search and seize vessels of other
member countries which are acting in violation of the convention or of
regulations adopted under it. Such vessels must be delivered as promptly
as practicable to the authorized officials of the member country having
jurisdiction over them. Only the authorities of that country may
conduct prosecutions and impose penalties.
Though these commissions with interactional control measures a t
present in operation have limited membership (a maximum of four
countries), efforts to ensure international control are not restricted to
commissions with a small membership or a limited species coverage.
The Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was amended to enable
the International Whaling Commission to deal with methods of
inspection, and an international observer scheme has been devised but
it has not yet proved possible to bring it into operation. Both the
International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries and the
North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission have also concerned themselves recently with the international enforcement of regulations in
their area of competence and they have the matter under active
consideration.
International control will become increasingly important, as it is
gradually being recognized that, when scientific evidence calls for
measures t o be taken, the purposes of conservation and management
can best be achieved by limiting the amount of fishing (fishing
mortality) either by control of the fishing effort or by regulation of the
amount of total catch.
The full benefit from limitation on fishing will, as mentioned earlier,
only be achieved with some system of allocation of the total quota,
whether of catch or of effort (e.g. days fishing).
Several conventions contain provisions on the manner in which the
yield from the resources is to be portioned among member countries.
The convention setting up the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries
Commission lays down the principle that the two member countries
(Canada and the U.S.A.) should share equally in the fishery and,
consequently, one of the tasks of the Commission is to regulate the
fishery with a view to allowing, as nearly as practicable, an equal
portion of the fish that may be caught each year to be taken by the
fishermen of each member country.
The convention establishing the North Pacific Fur Seal Commission,
which has four member countries, provides for a system of quotas to