CONTENTS Page Statement of- Text of H. R. 9584_ Barr, James E., secretary, Texas Shrimp Association__. 1 59 Chapman, W. M., director of research, American Tunaboat Association, 1. Organizations joining in the submitted statement__ 2. Resolution on the conservation of the natural resources of the continental platform and sea, adopted by the 10th Inter-Ameri- ican Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, March 1954____ 3. Draft resolution with conservation of natural resources: The insular and Continental Shelf and the waters covering it, pre- sented by the delegation of Ecuador to the 10th Inter-American Conference, Caracus, Venezuela, March 1954--- 4. Text of the official communication from Thomas Jefferson, Sec- retary of State, to the Honorable George Hammond, British Minister to the United States, November 8, 1793_. 5. Excerpts from international convention for the high seas fish- eries of the north Pacific Ocean, together with protocol relating thereto, signed at Tokyo, May 9, 1952, on behalf of the United 6. Executive Order 9633, September 28, 1945, reserving and placing certain resources of the Continental Shelf under the contr and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior_ 7. Executive Order 9634, September 28, 1945, providing for the establishment of fishery conservation zones. 8. United States policy on fisheries and territorial waters by 9. Presidential declaration concerning Continental Shelf, June 23, 1947, El Mescurio (Santiago de Chile), June 29, 1947, page 47-- 10. Treaty between Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, signed at Santiago, 11. Text of letter from Hon. James E. Webb, Under Secretary of 12. Text of letter from Hon. James E. Webb, Under Secretary of 13. Text of letter from Hon. Dean Acheson, Secretary of State, 14. Inter-American Judicial Committee, Pan American Union, draft convention on territorial waters and related questions__ 15. Resolution on territorial waters and related questions, Coun- 16. Report on fisheries, including draft treaty, submitted by In- ternational Law Commission to the General Assembly of the 17. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United 18. Item from United States Fish and Wildlife Service Market 19. Text of letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, Senator from Massachusetts, October 30, Klaus, Arnold, assistant manager, San Diego Chamber of Commerce, Lopken, Harold, of Fishing Vessels Owners Association, telegram, Morton, Thruston B., Assistant Secretary of State, letter, July 1, 1954, Rice, Thomas D., secretary of the Massachusetts Fisheries Associa- 65 Beaton, R. H., executive vice president, California Fish Canners Asso- Brummel, S. M., secretary, Commercial Fishermen's Inter-Insurance Calise, John, secretary, Seine and Line Fishermen's Union of San Pedro, letter, June 22, 1954, to Hon. Cecil R. King---. Gary, Hon. J. Vaughan, a Representative in Congress from the State Linehan, John F., general manager, Seafood Producers Association of New Bedford, Mass., letter, July 1, 1954, to Hon. Thor C. Tollefson__ Matthews, Hon. D. R. (Billy), a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida, letter, July 20, 1954, to Hon. Alvin F. Weichel_____ Peterson, Walter C., city clerk of Los Angeles, Calif., letter, June 30, 1954, to Leonard P. Pliska, with enclosed resolution_. Waugh, James, president, Cannery Workers Union of the Pacific, letter, 70 TO PROTECT RIGHTS OF UNITED STATES VESSELS ON HIGH SEAS FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1954 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 2 p. m. in the committee room of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Hon. Thor C. Tollefson, acting chairman of the committee, presiding. Mr. TOLLEFSON. The committee will come to order. We have for consideration H. R. 9584, a bill to protect the rights of vessels of the United States on the high seas and in territorial waters of foreign countries. (The bill is as follows:) [H. R. 9584, 83d Cong., 2d sess.]. A BILL To protect the rights of vessels of the United States on the high seas and in territorial waters of foreign countries Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purposes of this Act the term "vessel of the United States" shall mean any private vessel documented under the laws of the United States and any fishing vessel owned by a citizen of the United States. SEC. 2. In any case where (a) a vessel of the United States is seized by a foreign country on the basis of rights or claims in territorial waters or the high seas which are not recognized by the United States; and (b) there is no dispute of material facts with respect to the location or activity of such vessel at the time of such seizure, the Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable take such action as he deems appropriate to attend to the welfare of such vessel and its crew while it is held by such country and to secure the release of such vessel and crew, and shali pay any fines or post any bonds that may be required by such country for such release. SEC. 3. The provisions of this Act shall not apply with respect to a seizure made by a country at war with the United States or a seizure made in accordance with the provisions of any fishery convention or treaty to which the United States is a party. SEC. 4. The Secretary of State shall take such action as he may deem appropriate to make and collect on claims against a foreign country for amounts expended by the United States under the provisions of this Act because of the seizure of a United States vessel by such country. SEC. 5. There are authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Mr. TOLLEFSON. We will insert in the record at this point the reports of the executive department on H. R. 9584. 1 (The information is as follows:) REPORT OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT ON H. R. 9584, 83D CONGRESS Hon. THOR C. TOLLEFSON, Acting Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. TOLLEFSON: Reference is made to Mr. Pliska's letter of June 17, 1954, the receipt of which was acknowledged on June 17, 1954, transmitting for the comments of the Department a copy of H. R. 9584, to protect the rights of vessels of the United States on the high seas and in territorial waters of foreign countries. The bill provides that in any case where a private vessel documented under the laws of the United States, including any fishing vessel owned by any citizen of the United States, is seized by a foreign country on the basis of rights or claims in territorial waters or the high seas which are not recognized by the United States, and there is no dispute of material facts with respect to the location or activity of such vessel at the time of such seizure, the Secretary of State shall take such action as he deems appropriate to attend to the welfare of such vessel and its crew while it is held by such foreign country and to secure the release of such vessel and crew and shall pay any fines or post any bonds that may be required by the foreign government for such release. The bill is designed, according to the statement of one of its sponsors, to protect American fishermen in the continued exercise of fishing rights on the high seas and in the territorial waters of foreign countries. The bill would appear to have its source in the current differences in practice concerning the extent and measurement of territorial waters, and in the denial by one or more foreign governments of the right of innocent passage to fishing vessels. The bill would seem to be based upon the following premises: (1) It is inequitable for the individual vessel owner to bear the penalties assessed by foreign governments for the exercise of rights which, the United States Government maintains, belong to American vessels and nationals by virtue of the principles of international law; (2) unless vessel owners are granted relief of the nature sought, they will forego the exercise of rights stated by the United States Government to be derived from international law; and (3) if American vessel owners forego the exercise of such rights, the rights may atrophy and the de facto claims of foreign governments harden into rights de jure. From the view of the vessel owner and fisherman, such reasoning may appear plausible. The Department is aware of the serious problems facing them because of controversy regarding the extent of territorial waters. It is unquestionably true that some vessel owners will forego fishing in disputed waters unless a measure of relief is granted. As to the suggestion that unless American citizens continue to fish in the disputed waters the rights of the United States in such waters will in some way deteriorate, so long as the United States position has been made known officially to the governments concerned and is maintained, it is not believed that the failure of its citizens to exercise the rights claimed for them will have the feared result. Whether the United States Government should reimburse private fishing interests for losses incurred by them through attempts to fish in territorial waters of foreign countries outside the limit of such waters recognized by the United States is a question of legislative policy concerning which no views are expressed. From a broader view, however, the proposed legislation contains provisions and may have effects not desirable from the standpoint of the conduct of the foreign relations of the United States. A number of foreign countries claim territorial waters in excess of those claimed by the United States, i. e., 3 marine miles from low-water mark on the coast. While it is the practice of the United States to protest claims to territorial waters in excess of 3 miles and while the United States considers that under international law it is not required to recognize such claims, nevertheless, the United States must recognize that these conflicting claims exist and that differences concerning them can only be settled through attempts to reach agreements with other countries such as has been done in some of our treaties relating to fisheries. It is believed that the effect of the proposed legislation would be provocative. It would tend to increase controversies with foreign countries by encouraging American citizens to disregard their laws. Moreover, the provisions of the proposed legislation requiring the payment of fines by the Department of State, which would thus subject itself to the jurisdiction of foreign courts and appear to recognize to a certain extent, at least, the validity of foreign claims, is regarded as undesirable from the standpoint of both procedure and policy. For the reasons indicated, the Department considers that the enactment of the proposed legislation would not be desirable from the standpoint of the foreign relations of the United States. I have been informed by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, HON. ALVIN F. WEICHEL, THRUSTON B. MORTON, Assistant Secretary (For the Secretary of State). THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter is in reply to your telephonic request for the views of this Department with respect to H. R. 9584, a bill to protect the rights of vessels of the United States on the high seas and in territorial waters of foreign countries, on which your committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, July 1, 1954. The bill would apply to private vessels documented under the laws of the United States and fishing vessels owned by citizens of the United States. It would provide that, in case of seizure of any such vessel by a foreign country on the basis of rights or claims in territorial waters or on the high seas which are not recognized by the United States, the Secretary of State should take appropriate action for the welfare of the vessel and its crew while held by such country, and to secure the release thereof. While the coverage of the bill includes merchant vessels documented under the laws of the United States, it appears to be directed primarily to protection of fishing vessels with respect to which seizures have given rise to problems in the past. The immediate problems of rights in territorial waters or the high seas are, of course, within the jurisdiction of the State Department, which would be the administrative agency under the bill. It is our understanding that you will have the benefit of the views of the State Department on the measure. We are informed that within the past year, a number of American fishing vessels have been seized in the Pacific and gulf areas, resulting in considerable loss of time and much expense to the domestic fishing industry. Some of these seizures have been made where there was no dispute of material facts with respect to the location or activity of such vessels at the time of the seizure. If these threats and seizures continue, American fishing vessels might be driven from some parts of the high seas, with resulting damage to the United States fishing industry as a whole. Although because of the possible foreign-policy implications involved, this Department would defer to the views of the Department of State with respect to the provisions of H. R. 9584, we recommend that steps be taken to assure freedom of the high seas to American fishing vessels. We have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that they would interpose no objection to the submission of this letter to your committee. If we can be of further assistance in this matter, please call on us. SINCLAIR WEEKS, Secretary of Commerce. Mr. TOLLEFSON. I should say what I have probably said to some of you already, that we are trying to squeeze this hearing in in order to accommodate the witnesses who are here from out of town, so that we will not have to keep them over what we think is going to be a very long weekend. |