711.417/1135: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan ( Grew )

475. Your no. 703, May 19, 11 a.m., Fur Seal Convention. Please send the Foreign Office a formal note reading in substance as follows: [Page 916]

“The authorities of the Government of the United States have given careful consideration to the views of the Japanese Government as set forth in the communication dated May 9, 194124 addressed to me by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in response to my note of March 17, 1941 to the Foreign Office in which certain conclusions and suggestions relative to the Fur Seal Convention of 1911 were offered for the consideration of the Japanese Government.

From the Foreign Office’s note of May 9, 1941 my Government understands that the Japanese Government reaffirms the position taken in the memorandum attached to the Foreign Office’s note dated October 23, 194025 giving notice of abrogation of the Fur Seal Convention. My Government also notes that while the Japanese Government is prepared to conclude a new agreement on the basis of the principles attached to its notice of abrogation, it is not prepared to consider withdrawing that notice in accordance with the procedure suggested by my Government.

It will be recalled that in my Government’s response to the Japanese Government’s notice of abrogation and to the statement of principles attached thereto a procedure was offered for the consideration of the Japanese Government containing the following points:

1.
A substantial increase in the number of fur seals killed on the Pribilof Islands, including the sealing season of 1941 which began June 1.
2.
A thorough survey of the fur seal situation to be made, and upon the basis thereof consideration to be given by the Convention powers to any need for adjustment that may be found to exist.
3.
Withdrawal of the Japanese Government’s notice of abrogation, affording time for investigation and analysis of data preparatory to a constructive solution to any problems which may be found to exist.

On the basis of their present information, the authorities of my Government are still convinced that a return to pelagic sealing is highly undesirable and that the method of taking seals most consonant with the common desire of our Governments to conserve the fur seals is the taking of seals on land rather than at sea. My Government remains of the opinion that the conclusion of a permanent agreement based upon the statement of principles supplied by the Japanese Government would not be desirable before it has had an opportunity to make the necessary study and inquiry into the questions which these principles raise. Plans are accordingly being made by my Government to begin a scientific ocean survey of the fur seal situation at an early date. However, as my Government has previously indicated, it would be unfortunate if the existing Convention should expire without provision for conserving its beneficial effects. Therefore, the appropriate authorities of my Government, having in mind the foregoing considerations and the expressed views of the Japanese Government, have further studied the statement of principles attached to the Japanese [Page 917] Government’s notice of abrogation and offer for the consideration of the appropriate Japanese authorities an outline of a possible provisional fur seal agreement based in part on those principles, as follows:

1.
Provisional arrangement temporarily permitting pelagic sealing with provision for (a) a clear separation of the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea into east and west areas, the eastern area to be allotted to the United States and Canada and the western area to be allotted to Japan and the Soviet Union, (b) limited hunting seasons fixed according to areas, and (c) regulation of hunting methods.
2.
Pelagic sealing to be regulated by the respective Governments in the areas allotted to them under the agreement; the taking of seals on land to be regulated by the sovereign powers thereof.
3.
Progressive reduction, at a rate to be agreed upon, of the number of fur seals in the North Pacific Ocean for a period of at least 2 years; this provision to be carried out by a regular exchange of information between the present Convention powers on the number of fur seals killed.
4.
No division to be made of the fur seals taken on land or at sea by the agents or nationals of the several Convention powers.

With regard to point 1 above, it is the view of the authorities of my Government that, for the purposes of the provisional agreement outlined, the general ocean areas in which Japan and the Soviet Union might confine their sealing operations would lie, in general, to the west of a line following the international boundary between the United States and the Soviet Union as defined in article I of the convention ceding Alaska concluded between the United States and Russia on March 30, 1867 (United States Statutes at Large, vol. 15, page 539) to its terminus at a point 167 degrees east of Greenwich and approximately 50 degrees 45 minutes north latitude, thence in a southerly direction along a line to be agreed upon. The waters east of this line would be the sphere of operations subject to regulation by the United States and Canada. Further, the appropriate authorities of my Government are not prepared to concur in a return to the practice of pelagic sealing except upon a provisional basis pending the conclusion of an ocean survey of the fur seal situation. These authorities, therefore, reserve their position with respect to regulatory measures it may be necessary to take in the interest of the fur seal herd of the Pribilof Islands.

My Government believes that if effect were to be given to a provisional agreement along the above-stated lines, some degree of regulation would be achieved and the fur seal herds in the North Pacific saved from the rapid destruction which probably would occur should the present Convention expire without any agreement on the subject.

My Government trusts that the competent Japanese authorities will, pursuant of the Japanese Government’s expressed interest in protecting and preserving the important fur seal resources of the North Pacific Ocean, give favorable consideration to the present proposals. In view of the limited time during which the Convention will remain in force, I should appreciate receiving at an early date the response of [Page 918] the Japanese Government to the views and proposals of my Government set forth herein.”

Please discuss this matter personally with the Minister for Foreign Affairs26 to the extent you consider helpful. You may state that the Embassy will be pleased to be of any possible assistance in the Japanese Government’s study of this important matter.

Telegraph result of discussion and full text of any communication received.

1.
For background, reference is made to part 2 of the Department’s telegram no. 164 of March 13, 3 p.m., especially paragraphs 5 and 6.
2.
The American fur seal herd has been developed and preserved primarily by the initiative taken by the Government of the United States. Over a long period of years the United States has pursued a consistent policy of careful conservation which has given the herd its present value, and as a result the herd is considered a substantial American investment. Now that this seal herd has been increased to a number from which there is a reasonable return for the money and effort devoted to it by the United States, the Government and people of the United States would view with deep concern any development which might jeopardize their unmistakable interest in this important resource.
3.
The fact that the fur seals of the Pribilof Islands breed on territory of the United States is also considered as establishing a superior American interest and claim in that herd.
4.
The waters of the North Pacific Ocean have been a sanctuary for the fur seal herds, undisturbed for nearly 30 years by vessels engaged in pelagic sealing. In the event the Convention should terminate without any agreement, public opinion in the United States would be disturbed by the prospect of serious depletion of the American fur seal herd by pelagic sealing.
5.
In view of the repeatedly expressed contention of the Japanese authorities that the fur seal herd of the Pribilof Islands frequents the waters adjacent to Japan, there would seem to be no reasonable ground for objection by Japan to the suggestion that Japan and the Soviet Union confine their sealing operations to areas lying, in general, to the west of the proposed dividing line, leaving the waters east of that line as the sphere of operations of the United States and Canada and subject to regulation by them. Such a division of the ocean would leave the fur seal herds of Robben Island and the Commander Islands exclusively for Japan and the Soviet Union and would also allow their nationals to take fur seals of the Pribilof Islands herd if they frequent the waters of the Asiatic coast, as claimed by Japanese authorities.
6.
It is believed that the temporary arrangement outlined would allay serious apprehension on the part of important sections of the American public and furnish a practicable basis, pending the conclusion of a permanent agreement, for the protection of the rights and interests of each of the present parties to the Convention.
7.
The Department has given consideration to the interests of Canada and the Soviet Union in this matter and is advising the Canadian Legation and the Soviet Embassy here of the course of action this Government is taking.
Hull
  1. See telegram No. 703, May 19, 11 a.m., from the Ambassador in Japan, p. 912.
  2. See telegram No. 1051, October 25, 1940, 11 a.m., from the Ambassador in Japan, Foreign Relations, 1940, vol. iv, p. 986.
  3. Adm. Teijiro Toyoda.