fishing zone compromise

US, Micronesia, in 200-mile fishing zone compromise

High Commissioner Adrian P.

Winkel of the US Trust Territory of the Pacific in October signed into law a major piece of legislation which will establish a 200-mile fish ery zone for the Trust Territory.

“There is no question,” Winkel said at the signing ceremony,“that this legislation is probably the most significant passed by the special ses sion, or passed in a number of sessions, of the Congress of Micronesia.”

Senator Nick Bossy, the chairman of the Law of the Sea Delegation, thanked the High Commissioner for signing the measure, emphasising the importance of the legislation. “I have been saying all along that we’re not asking for something that does not belong to us. We’ve been asking for something that is within our waters,” he added.

The bill would authprise fines of up to $50,000 on vessels ignoring its provisions after July I, 1979. The legislation reverses the Congress of Micronesia positions on the tuna issue, direct negotiations with foreign governments and the role of the High Commissioner.

The measure, according to the Senate and House Committees on Resources and Development, “rep resents major efforts to reach a com promise on the question of a 200mile fishery zone. It has accom modated many of the concerns ex pressed by the United States, as well as the High Commissioner. The bill has incorporated the re commendations and views of the Micronesian delegation to the United Nations Law of the Sea Con ference.”

The bill did not mention the issue of tuna fishing, defining instead Micronesian jurisdiction within the zone “to the extent permitted by in ternational law”. The legislation now satisfies the United States, which has argued in the UN Law of the Sea Conferences that tuna fish ing should not be regulated by any fishing nation.

On the other hand, the legislation permits the newly authorised Micronesian Maritime Authority to make direct contact with various fishing companies, issue permits for fishing and to establish and enforce rules for the regulation and conser-

vation of various species of marine resources found in Micronesian waters.

The bill prohibits Micronesian negotiations of fishery agreements with foreign nations, and instead allows the United States to negotiate on Micronesia’s behalf. Such deal ings by the US, however, would re quire concurrence by the Congress of Micronesia.

Micronesia's outspoken Senator Nick Bossy ... “we're not asking for something that doesn't belong to us we're asking for something that is with in our waters".