Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–11, Part 2, Documents on South America, 1973–1976

115. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Ford¹

Washington, undated.

SUBJECT

• Transmission to the Senate of the Agreement with Brazil concerning Shrimp

Attached at Tab A for your signature is a memorandum transmitting to the Senate for their advice and consent to ratification an Agreement with Brazil concerning shrimp fishing, together with an Agreed Minute and a related exchange of notes concerning compensation. Another related exchange of notes concerning interim undertakings is also transmitted for the information of the Senate. These documents were signed at Brasília on March 14, 1975. A report from Deputy Secretary Robert Ingersoll on the Agreement (Tab B) will also be forwarded to the Senate.

The necessity for an agreement arose in 1970 when Brazil asserted a claim to a 200-mile territorial sea. The claim encompassed important shrimp resource areas outside the twelve-mile exclusive fishery jurisdiction recognized by the U.S. which have been exploited for several years by a large number of U.S. flag vessels. The United States and Brazil signed an Agreement concerning Shrimp on May 9, 1972, which expired after several extensions on February 28, 1975. That Agreement was effective in conserving the shrimp resources in the area to which it applied and assured U.S. fishermen access to these resources without risk of incidents arising from the different juridical positions of the two governments on law of the seas issues.

The renegotiated Agreement continues to provide these benefits without prejudice to the juridical position of either government on the territorial sea question. The Agreement will extend through December 31, 1976. The interim nature of the Agreement reflects the expectation that the underlying question may be settled by general international agreement on the law of the sea.

The Agreement provides for a limitation of the total number of vessels exploiting the resources in the defined area and on the number of U.S. flag vessels permitted. It defines the authorized times for fishing and provides for an exchange of information by the parties to the Agreement. For reasons of convenience and economy, the Brazilian Government is assigned responsibility for enforcement of the terms of the Agreement, and the U.S. will pay Brazil $361,000 annually for enforcement expenses. The major portion of this expense will be recovered from the fishermen through continuation of a licensing system administered by the Secretary of Commerce. (Amended legislation to this effect will be sought by the Executive Departments concerned.) Any U.S. vessel apprehended for violation of the Agreement will be turned over to U.S. authorities for appropriate action.

Representatives of the U.S. shrimp fishing industry have indicated general satisfaction with the terms of this Agreement.

This has been cleared with Max Friedersdorf and we do not envisage opposition to favorable Senate consideration of the Agreement. Paul Theis has cleared the text of the proposed Memorandum to the Senate.

Recommendation:

That you sign the transmittal message at Tab A.

1. Summary: Kissinger advised Ford to request the Senate’s ratification of the Shrimp Agreement with Brazil, which would regulate the total number of ships (including U.S. ships) in an area of the ocean between the accepted 12-mile zone off the coast of Brazil and Brazil’s claim of a 200-mile zone.

   Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, NSC Latin American Affairs Staff Files, Box 1, Brazil—Fisheries Problem. No classification marking. Sent for action. Published from an uninitialed copy. On June 10 Linder informed Kissinger that Ford had signed a message to the Senate requesting ratification of the agreement. (Ibid.) Attached but not published are Tab A, message to the Senate, May 22; Tab B, a memorandum from Ingersoll to Ford, May 3; and Tab C, the U.S.-Brazilian Shrimp Agreement of March 14. On July 21, the Assistant Director for Legislative Reference, James M. Frey, informed Ford of Enrolled Bill H.R. 5709, the Offshore Shrimp Fisheries Act Amendments of 1975, which would implement the March 14 agreement. (Ibid.) The Senate ratified the agreement on October 28. Linder informed Scowcroft on December 23 that Ford had signed the instrument of ratification of the agreement. (Ibid., Brazil—Economic, Social)