822.628/45
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Ecuador (Sparks)
Sir: The Department has received your despatch No. 560, of October 9, 1936, transmitting a note No. 134, of October 6, from the Ecuadoran Foreign Office, with respect to the operations of American fishing vessels in the territorial waters and marginal seas of Ecuador.
In acknowledging this note, you are instructed to include the following observations:
“My Government has noted the request of the Ecuadoran Government that it caution certain American fishing companies as to the necessity of avoiding disagreeable situations which might arise should they fish in Ecuadoran waters without complying with Ecuadoran regulations governing such fishing.
“The United States Government would be most happy to comply with this request of the Ecuadoran Government, but before doing so desires to point out that it must insist on its contention raised in the Legation’s note No. 16 of June 7, 1935, that the United States Government ‘can not admit the right of the Ecuadoran Government to apply its fishing regulations to American vessels beyond the belt of three miles from low water lines on Ecuadoran territory’. My Government is awaiting with considerable interest the final reply of the Ecuadoran Government to the above-mentioned note, and desires to express the hope that the Ecuadoran Government will find it possible to accept the contention of my Government, thus harmonizing Ecuadoran [Page 530] regulations respecting the exercise of jurisdiction over territorial waters with the practice followed by most foreign nations and generally recognized under the rules of international law.
“I am also instructed by my Government to inquire when I may expect a reply to the points raised with respect to the specific case of the American fishing vessel Sedboy, contained in my note above mentioned and later referred to in the Legation’s note No. 70, of May 22, 1936.”55
Very truly yours,
- Not printed.↩