421. Telegram From the Delegation to the Conference on the Law of the Sea to the Department of State1
1720. Law of Sea. In general committee this morning it was voted that all new proposals and amendments to recommendations of the Committee of the Whole must be filed not later than Friday 3:00 p.m. April 22; amendments or revisions or proposals must be in not later than noon Monday April 25; voting will start Tuesday April 26 10:30a.m., [Page 797] which was also fixed as closing date conference with signature Wednesday evening April 27. Believe USSR is planning to table proposal for 12-mile exclusive fishing zone with no vote at this conference on breadth of territorial sea. Tunkin (USSR) has advised Argentina that if their proposal respecting preferential rights is introduced in plenary Soviet bloc will support. Am considering following as a possible substitute for Cuban-Peruvian-Argentine-Icelandic proposal:
“Whereby reason of the special conditions which may be found to exist in areas of the sea near the coasts of a country, the fisheries, the livelihood of the population and the national economy are so manifestly interrelated that, in consequence they are dependent on the exploitation of the living resources of the sea in the said areas, and it becomes necessary, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on Fisheries and Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea, adopted at Geneva, April 27, 1958, to limit the total catch of a stock or stocks of fish in the said area, all as scientifically determined by the impartial Commission referred to above after a duly noticed hearing at which both the coastal state and fishing states concerned shall have the right to present evidence as to the existence of the special conditions aforesaid through technical, geographical, biological and economic studies and surveys prepared with the participation of specialized agencies of the United Nations and received in evidence by the Commission.
“The coastal state, to the extent and for the period of time determined by the Commission, shall have preferential rights under such limitations and to the extent that the Commission determines to be necessary by reason of the dependence of the coastal state on the stock or stocks of fish.
“In case of disagreement any interested state may initiate the procedure provided for in the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas adopted at Geneva, April 27, 1958.”
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 399.731/4–2060. Confidential; Priority. Received at 9:46 a.m.↩