6.4.1 The 1957 Interim Convention on Conservation of North
Pacific Fur Seals
Understandably, directly after the war, countries were not overly concerned with the
consideration for the environment and ultimately for the conservation of seal stocks.
This did not necessarily account for the United States and Canada with regard to the
Bering Sea fur seals, however. As we have seen above, despite the ongoing war
efforts and post-war restoration initiatives, the two countries pledged to uphold the
provisions of the 1911 Fur Seal Convention in order to protect the seal herds. With
the advent of the 1950s and the setting of the international world order, the United
States did not only take the lead in re-shaping and establishing international
institutions, but also in becoming a forerunner in the protection of marine mammals.
Since the US had already previously demonstrated that it was possible to unite
sealing parties in the Bering Sea under one regulatory regime, by 1951 the State
Department had started its work on the process of renegotiating the Fur Seal
Convention with Japan and the Soviet Union. When the US, Japan and many others
signed the Treaty of San Francisco, the peace treaty with Japan, in September 1951,
the path for Japan’s involvement in a new Bering Sea fur seal regime was paved.
The first step into the direction of a new regime was taken when the US, Canada
and Japan entered into a non-binding cooperation agreement, somewhat similar to a
Memorandum of Understanding, to carry out joint research on population statuses,
migratory behaviour and feeding habits of fur seals in the Pribilof Islands. The
overall intention was that this joint research programme would ease the conclusion
of a new fur seal convention. Although also the Soviet Union was approached to join
this programme, it refused. While this was the case, the Soviet Union indicated that it
would be willing to join a new fur seal convention. Why the Soviet Union did not
wish to enter into the agreement on research cannot be explained, nor its wish to
directly move towards a binding convention. What is obvious, however, is the fact
that by the early 1950s the demand for fur from the Bering Sea began to dwindle. In
other words, the commercial aspect of seal hunting in the Bering Sea had lost
importance and indeed by 1954 the Northern fur seal was commercially no longer
attractive.
This fact may have made it easier for the parties concerned to enter into a
regulatory regime for fur seals. For 1 1/2 years, starting in November 1955, the
four states met regularly in Washington DC, to discuss and draft a new fur seal
convention. Finally, a text was agreed upon and the Interim Convention on Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals
11 was adopted on 9 February 1957. It entered into
force in October of the same year. It would expire on 14 October 1984. The Interim
Convention was a treaty that linked several aspects that are still relevant today and
that still fuel the controversy surrounding marine mammal exploitation: conservation, sustainable use and research (science). This threefold objective could be found
in the Preamble of the convention which aimed to achieve maximum sustainable
11 Interim Convention on Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals, 9 February 1957.
136
6 The International Legal Framework for Seals
Pacific Fur Seals
Understandably, directly after the war, countries were not overly concerned with the
consideration for the environment and ultimately for the conservation of seal stocks.
This did not necessarily account for the United States and Canada with regard to the
Bering Sea fur seals, however. As we have seen above, despite the ongoing war
efforts and post-war restoration initiatives, the two countries pledged to uphold the
provisions of the 1911 Fur Seal Convention in order to protect the seal herds. With
the advent of the 1950s and the setting of the international world order, the United
States did not only take the lead in re-shaping and establishing international
institutions, but also in becoming a forerunner in the protection of marine mammals.
Since the US had already previously demonstrated that it was possible to unite
sealing parties in the Bering Sea under one regulatory regime, by 1951 the State
Department had started its work on the process of renegotiating the Fur Seal
Convention with Japan and the Soviet Union. When the US, Japan and many others
signed the Treaty of San Francisco, the peace treaty with Japan, in September 1951,
the path for Japan’s involvement in a new Bering Sea fur seal regime was paved.
The first step into the direction of a new regime was taken when the US, Canada
and Japan entered into a non-binding cooperation agreement, somewhat similar to a
Memorandum of Understanding, to carry out joint research on population statuses,
migratory behaviour and feeding habits of fur seals in the Pribilof Islands. The
overall intention was that this joint research programme would ease the conclusion
of a new fur seal convention. Although also the Soviet Union was approached to join
this programme, it refused. While this was the case, the Soviet Union indicated that it
would be willing to join a new fur seal convention. Why the Soviet Union did not
wish to enter into the agreement on research cannot be explained, nor its wish to
directly move towards a binding convention. What is obvious, however, is the fact
that by the early 1950s the demand for fur from the Bering Sea began to dwindle. In
other words, the commercial aspect of seal hunting in the Bering Sea had lost
importance and indeed by 1954 the Northern fur seal was commercially no longer
attractive.
This fact may have made it easier for the parties concerned to enter into a
regulatory regime for fur seals. For 1 1/2 years, starting in November 1955, the
four states met regularly in Washington DC, to discuss and draft a new fur seal
convention. Finally, a text was agreed upon and the Interim Convention on Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals
11 was adopted on 9 February 1957. It entered into
force in October of the same year. It would expire on 14 October 1984. The Interim
Convention was a treaty that linked several aspects that are still relevant today and
that still fuel the controversy surrounding marine mammal exploitation: conservation, sustainable use and research (science). This threefold objective could be found
in the Preamble of the convention which aimed to achieve maximum sustainable
11 Interim Convention on Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals, 9 February 1957.
136
6 The International Legal Framework for Seals