waters issued between July 10, 1918, and September 14, 1944. New regulations were issued in 1954, only to be replaced or amended 4 years later by a new Statute on the Protection of Fish Stocks and Control of Fishing in the U.S.S.R. of September 15, 1958, which has been in force at least since July 1, 1962. These statutes, inasmuch as they have been passed by the Councils of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the Soviet Republics and are not in the nature of session laws (published in the Vedomosti of the U.S.S.R. and the Vedomosti of the individual Soviet Republics) are not as a rule available abroad unless communicated by the Soviet Government to the United Nations, as was the case with the 1935 and 1954 statutes on this subject.

"Legislation originating with the councils of ministers on the Federal or republic level, is published in the Sobranie Postanovlenii i Rasporiazhenii of the Soviet Union Council of Ministers and comparable publications of the councils of ministers of the constituent and autonomous republics which, however, as a rule have a restricted circulation. It is due to this practice that the collections of the Library of Congress do not include the publication in which the integral authentic text of the above-mentioned statute of 1958 are included. Accordingly the excerpts from this statute are quoted from a secondary source, a 1962 commented edition of the RSFSR Criminal Code published by Leningrad University.

"This study is limited to an outline of fishing regulations for U.S.S.R. territorial waters, including the penalties imposed for their violation, with particular emphasis on the special legislation on the enforcement of penalties for infringements by foreigners.

"II. SOVIET CONCEPT OF TERRITORIAL WATERS

"The Soviet concept of territorial waters is outlined in article 3 of the Regulations on the Protection of the State Borders of the U.S.S. R. of August 5, 1960,2 which reads as follows:

'Article 3. The coastal marine waters to a distance of 12 nautical miles measures from the low-water mark both on the mainland and around islands or from the other limits of the inland marine waters of the U.S.S. R. are the territorial waters of the U.S.S.R. In particular cases provided for by agreements between the U.S.S.R. and other states, the limit of the territorial waters may differ.

""The line of the outer limits of the territorial waters is the state border of the U.S.S.R. on the sea.

66

'In areas where the territorial waters of the U.S.S. R. adjoin the territorial waters of contiguous states, the state maritime border of the U.S.S.R. is established in conformity with agreements concluded by the U.S.S.R. with the contiguous states, or in the absence of such agreements, in conformity with the principles accepted in the international practice of states or along a straight line connecting the outlets of the land border to the sea.'

"III. GENERAL PROHIBITION FOR FOREIGNERS TO ENGAGE IN FISHING IN SOVIET WATERS UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

"The principle that foreigners are prohibited to engage in commercial fishing in all U.S.S.R. fishing waters, i.e., 'all waters used for the catching of fish, water mammals, crustaceans and other water animals and products,' including 'marine fishing waters' which 'embrace all inland maritime waters of the U.S.S.R. and a maritime coastal zone 12 sea miles in breadth 3 is firmly entrenched in the U.S.S.R. The first all-embracing federal legislative act on control of fishing and conservation of sea products dated September 25, 1935, provided in section 12: 'Foreign nationals and foreign legal persons may not carry on fishing or any other aquatic industry in any U.S.S.R. fishery, except as provided for by an international treaty concluded by the U.S.S. R. or under a concession granted by the Govern

1 A. N. Nikolaev, "Problema territorial 'nykh vod v mezhdunarodnom prave." (The Problem of Territorial Waters in International Law.) Moscow, 1954; pp. 241-246.

2 Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR, No. 34 (1018), Aug. 30, 1960, pp. 747-756. English translation in The Current Digest of the Soviet Press, v. XII, No. 40 (Nov. 2, 1960): 3-6. These regulations replaced the Regulations for the Defense of the State Frontiers of the U.S.S.R. of June 15, 1957 (Sobranie Zakonov i Rasporiazhenii SSSR), 1927, No. 62, text 625, pp. 1218, ff. Excerpts translated in United Nations Legislative Series. Laws and Regulations on the Regime of the High Seas. v. I. *** United Nations, New York, 1951; pp. 116-119. Hereinafter quoted as "Regime of the High Seas" (1951).

3 Secs. 1 and 2 of the Order of the Council of People's Commissars, No. 2157, for the Regulation of Fishing and the Conservation of Fisheries Resources, Sept. 25, 1935 (Sobranie Zakonov i Rasporiazhenii SSSR. Collection of Laws and Ordinances of the U.S.S.R.), 1935, No. 50, text 420; pp. 741, ff. Translation by the Secretariat of the United Nations. In "Regime of the High Seas" (1951).

For full title of this legislative act see preceding footnote.

ment of the U.S.S.R.' 5 As stated by a Soviet authority on Soviet maritime law.: 6

""Violation of provisions of Soviet legislation by foreign ships passing through Soviet waters entails the application of corresponding sanctions. Such sanctions for fishing, hunting, and other industries are provided for, in particular, by the RSFSR Criminal Code (sec. 86) and the criminal codes of the other Soviet republics. The frontier guard has the duty to detain the trespassers and to turn over the case record concerning them to the court.' 7

"The present situation with respect to the right of foreigners to fish in Soviet Union waters, including the territorial sea, is summed up in a recent Soviet monograph on the legal status of foreigners in the U.S.S.R.:

"The statute on the protection of fish stocks and on control of fisheries in the U.S.S.R. of September 1958 states that foreign citizens and juridical persons of foreign states may not engage in the fishing industry in Soviet waters unless this is provided for by agreements concluded between the U.S.S.R. and other states. This ban affects not only rivers and lakes, but also a territorial maritime belt 12 sea miles wide, and so-called internal seas. That is why foreign fishing boats are not allowed to fish in the White Sea, unless there is a special international agreement to the effect. Of course, the Soviet state may permit fishing in its territorial waters. For instance the Soviet Government, in view of the friendly relations between the Soviet Union and Finland, and the request made by the Government of the latter country, has granted, in accordance with the Agreement on Fisheries and Sealeries of February 21, 1959, to Finnish citizens, residing in several communities along the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the right to engage free of charge in fishing and seal catching in a specified part of Soviet territorial waters in the gulf.

""Since the statute of 1958 pertains to fishing as an industry, the foreigner has every right to fish without restriction if he does so for personal consumption; however, like any Soviet citizen, he is obliged to observe all regulations affecting fishing.' 98

"This basic rule prohibiting foreigners, in the absence of an international treaty, to engage in fishing for anything but personal consumption, is spelled out in articles 6 and 7 of the statute on the protection of fish stocks and on the control of fishing in the water reservoirs of the U.S.S.R., confirmed by the decision of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers of September 15, 1958, which reads as follows:

'Foreign citizens and juridical persons of foreign states shall be prohibited to engage in the industrial catch of fish and other water animals and plants in the water reservoirs of the U.S.S.R., with the exception of cases provided for by agreements entered into by the U.S.S.R. with other states.

"The catching of fish for personal consumption as a sport or hobby (without the right to sell the fish) shall be gratuitously permitted to all toilers in all water reservoirs, with the exception of reservations, fish hatcheries, lakes and other cultivated fish husbandries, if they comply with the established fishing rules.' "IV. CRIMINAL CODE PROVISIONS CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL FISHING "The unlawful, improper, or unlicensed exercise of industrial fishing may be subject either to administrative or criminal penalties, depending on the nature and gravity of the offense.10 Criminal responsibility is provided for in the new 5 Regime of the High Seas (1951), op. cit., p. 126. See also the only known special monograph on Soviet maritime and fishing law: G. I. Imenitov. "Sovetskoe morskoe i rybolovnoe pravo" (Soviet Maritime and Fishery Law). Moscow, State Publishing House of Juridical Writings, 1951, p. 91. Among other topics covered, special short sections of this work are devoted to administrative penalties imposed by officials of the Fishery Control Service for minor offenses, inquiry, and investigation of fishing offenses (pp. 98-101).

A. D. Keilin. "Sovetskoe morskoe pravo" (Soviet Maritime Law). Moscow, State Publishing House of Water Transportation, 1954. p. 64.

7 Keilin, op. cit., p. 64, quotes two cases of unlawful fishing by the British ships "Lasenniia" and "Etruria” and the penalties imposed. These cases were recorded in Izvestiia (Nov. 16, 1950) and Pravda (May 13, 1950), ibid., notes 1-2.

8 M. Boguslavski and A. Rubanov. "The Legal Status of Foreigners in the U.S.S.R." Moscow, Foreign Languages Publishing House, n.d. pp. 58-59. This book was published after 1960 because it mentions among U.S.S.R. treaties concerning foreigners the agreements on social security with the German Democratic Republic of May 24, 1960, and with Romania of Dec. 24, 1960 (p. 26).

Polozhenie ob okhrane rybnykh zapasov i o regulirovanii rybolovstva v vodoemakh SSSR, utverzhdennoe postanovleniem Soveta Ministrov SSSR ot 15 sentiabria 1958 g. (S[obranie] P[ostanovlenii] [Pravitel'stva SSSR, 1958, No. 16, Text 127). Quoted on pp. 297-298 of "Leningradskii Ordena Lenina Gosudarstvennyi Universitet imeni A.A. Zhdanova." Kommentarii k Ugolovnomu Kodeksu RSFSR 1960 g. (Leningrad State University of A.A. Zhdanov's Name. Commentaries to the RSFSR Criminal Code of 1960). Leningrad, 1962. Hereinafter quoted as Commentaries (1962).

10 Sovetskoe ugolovnoe pravo. Chast' osobennaia (Soviet Criminal Law. Special Part). V.D. Men'shagin coeditor. Moscow, 1957; p. 316. Hereinafter quoted as "Soviet Criminal Law" (1957).

criminal codes of the constituent Soviet republics, some of which became effective on January 1, 1961, replacing the old criminal codes patterned on the RSFSR Criminal Code. The new codes, including that of the RSFSR, have preserved a certain uniformity in their general parts in which the federal basic principles of criminal legislation of the U.S.S.R. and the constituent republics of December 25, 1958 (Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR. No. 1 (933), text 6) have been incorporated. However, with respect to special crimes, including violations of fishing regulations, differences exist with respect to the essential elements of particular offenses as well as to the kinds and modalities of penalties applicable. The pertinent provision of the RSFSR Criminal Code of 1960 is as follows:

"SEC. 163. Unlawful Engaging in Fishing and Other Aquatic Industries. [the act of] engaging in fishing, hunting and [any] other aquatic industry in the territorial waters of the U.S.S.R., internal seas, rivers and lakes, ponds, reservoirs and their accessory waters without the proper permission, or during the closed season, or in prohibited areas or with prohibited implements, means or methods, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a period not to exceed 1 year, or correctional labor for the same period of time, or a fine of up to one hundred rubles, or confiscation of the catch, the [fishing or hunting] implements and of the vessels, together with their equipment, or both.'

"The same acts if they are committed repeatedly or involve the catching or killing of valuable species of fish or aquatic animals, or the causing of considerable damage, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a period not to exceed 4 years, or with confiscation of property, or both.11

"Comparable provisions are incorporated in the criminal codes of some of the other Soviet constituent republics.12 However, a number of them have adopted a more lenient attitude:

"According to the Criminal Codes of the Azerbaijan, Kirghiz, Lithuanian Ukrainian, Georgian, and Kazak Soviet Socialist Republics the above-mentioned acts are subject to criminal punishment only in case the guilty person has already been subject to measures of administrative coercion at an earlier time.' 13

V. ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES

"The enforcement of fishing regulations is incumbent upon the U.S.S.R. Ministry of Fisheries and a special fish conservation and control agency, whose organizational setup and functions are outlined in the Fishing Control Service Code of April 15, 1938.14

11 Translated from Ministerstvo IUstitsii RSFSR. Ugolovnyi kodeks RSFSR. Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo IUridicheskoi Literatury. Moskva, 1960 (Ministry of Justice. RSFR Criminal Code, Moscow, State Publishing House of Juridical Writings, 1960). p. 81. Compare this provision with the earlier provision of the RSFSR Criminal Code of 1926 (effective Jan. 1, 1927, to Jan. 1, 1961):

"SEC. 86. The act of engaging in fishing, hunting or any other aquatic industry in seas, rivers or lakes of national importance without the proper permission or during the closed season or in prohibited areas or with prohibited implements, means or methods shall be punished by deprivation of liberty or correctional labour for a period not exceeding one year or a fine not exceeding 500 roubles and compulsory seizure of the unlawfully taken catch in all cases and optional seizure of the fishing or hunting implements and of the vessels used in the unlawful industry, together with all their equipment."

Translation by the Secretariat of the United Nations made from text provided by the Permanent Mission of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the United Nations. "United Nations Legislative Services." "Laws and Regulations on the Regime of the Territorial Sea." United Nations, New York, 1957 (ST/ LEG/SER. B/6: December 1956; United Nations Publication; Sales No.: 1957 V2). p. 355. Hereinafter quoted as "Regime of the Territorial Sea" (1957).

12 For example, sec. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Latvian SSR, effective Apr. 1, 1961 and promulgated Jan. 6, 1961, has the following wording:

"SEC. 159. Unlawful Engaging in Fishing and Other Aquatic Industries. [The act of] engaging in fishing, hunting and [any] other aquatic industry in seas, rivers, lakes and other reservoirs which are of industrial significance, without the proper permission, or during the closed season or in prohibited areas or with prohibited implements or means, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a period not to exceed one year or correctional labor for the same period of time, or a fine of up to three hundred rubles, or it shall entail the imposing of measures of public coercion."

(Ugolovnyi Kodeks Latviiskoi SSR. Riga, Latviiskoe Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo, 1961. p. 57.) In this case the words "territorial waters" are conspicuously missing, although Latvia has a coastal line on the Baltic Sea. The omission of the words "internal sea" is justified inasmuch as there is no internal sea in the Latvian SSR. Internal sea is defined under Soviet law as follows: "By an internal sea is understood any sea entirely surrounded by the territory of a given state (e.g., the Sea of Aral), or one which, though having an outlet to other waters, belongs to a particular state (e.g., the Sea of Azov and the White Sea)." Boguslavsky-Rubanov, op cit., p. 59, note*. The second feature of the Latvian SSR Criminal Code provision distinguishing it from that of the RSFSR Criminal Code is the higher maximum limit of the fine (300 instead of 100 rubles) and no increased punishment for cases involving the catching of valuable fish species or the causing of considerable damage.

13 Sovetskoe ugolovnoe pravo. Chast' osobennaia (Soviet Criminal Law. Special Part). M.D. Shargorodskii and N.A. Beliaev, editors. Moscow, State Publishing House of Juridical Writings, 1962, p. 272. 14 Ustav sluzhby rybolovnogo nadzora utverzhdennyi Sovetom Narodnykh Kommissarov SSSR 15 aprelia 1938. g. (Fishing Control Service Code Approved by the Council of People's Commissars of the U.S.S. R. on Apr. 15, 1938). Imenitov, op. cit., p. 97.

t

"Enforcement procedures had already been incorporated in articles 24 and 25 of the Order of the Council of People's Commissars concerning the regulation of fishing and the conservation of fish resources of September 25, 1935.15

"The regulations of August 10, 1954, concerning the conservation of fish resources and the regulation of fishing in the waters of the U.S.S.R., approved by the Order of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. of the same date, amplify the earlier rules: 16

"Article 1. All waters (seas, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and ponds) which are may be used for pisciculture or for the commercial fishing or commercial catching or gathering of other aquatic animals or plants, or which are important for the maintenance of stocks of commercial fish, shall be deemed to be fishery waters.

"Marine fishery waters comprise the internal maritime waters (inland seas, gulfs, bays and creeks of open seas) and territorial waters of the USSR (maritime frontier zone) to a width of twelve nautical miles measured from the low-water mark (both on the mainland and on islands) or, in the case of internal waters, from their outer edge.

"Article 6. Foreign nationals and bodies corporate of foreign States may not engage in commercial fishing or the commercial catching or gathering of other aquatic animals or plants in the waters of the USSR, except as provided in international agreements concluded by the USSR.

"Article 8. Rules governing fishing in fishery waters shall be made for the several fishery districts by the Minister of Fisheries of the USSR.

""The Fishery Rules shall specify, in particular, the boundaries of the area within which they apply, the prohibited areas and close seasons for fishing, the prohibited implements and methods of fishing, the mesh-sizes authorized for fishing equipment, the minimum sizes of fish and other aquatic animals authorized to be taken, the rules for non-commercial fishing by the public for personal consumption, and also, in waters in which such restrictions are necessary for conserving and increasing fish stocks, the authorized quantity of fishing equipment and of catches of fish of the several species.'

"'Article 23. A person who engages in fishing or the catching or gathering of other aquatic animals or plants in fishery waters without proper authority, in a close season, in a prohibited area, by prohibited methods or with prohibited implements, or who improperly discharges into fishery waters the unpurified and undecontaminated liquid wastes of an industrial or municipal undertaking or carries out blasting operations causing mass destruction of fish, shall be liable to prosecution as provided by law.

'A person who commits an offence as aforesaid for the first time, without using commercial fishing implements, explosives or poisons, or who contravenes any other provisions of the fishery rules or of these regulations, shall be liable to a fine.

"Article 24. Fishery conservation officers shall be entitled to detain persons committing offences against these regulations and the fishery rules and to seize fishing implements and floating equipment in their possession together with any fish and other aquatic animals and plants unlawfully taken.

'Fishery conservation officers shall be entitled to detain an offender for such time as may be necessary for the drawing-up of a report (record) of the offence against these regulations and the fishery rules. If the offender's identity cannot be established at the place where the offence is committed, the fishery conservation officers shall deliver the offender to the nearest rural Soviet or militia unit for the purpose of establishing his identity and domicile.

""Unlawful catches of fish and other aquatic animals and plants shall be seized by fishery conservation officers both at the place of taking and at points at which they are received and processed, and shall be delivered to fish products plants or to trade organizations at the prevailing acceptance prices. Seized fishing implements and floating equipment shall be held at the fishery conservation authorities' stores, or at other places at the discretion of the said authorities, until the fishery conservation authorities give their decision in the case, where administrative proceedings are taken against the offender, or until the court renders its judgment where judicial proceedings are taken against the offender.

""Prohibited fishing implements which cannot be converted into authorized fishing implements shall be confiscated without a judgment of the court and shall be destroyed.

"Article 25. The scale of fines for offenses under these regulations and the fishery rules shall be as follows:

15 "Regime of the High Seas" (1951), pp. 127-128.

16 "Regime of the Territorial Sea" (1957), pp. 577-578.

"""Fines imposed by district fishery conservation inspectors: not more than 250 rubles for each individual and not more than 2,000 rubles for each undertaking, institution, or organization;

"""Fines imposed by directors of fishery conservation and pisciculture departments (divisions) and their deputies: not more than 500 rubles for each individual and not more than 5,000 rubles for each undertaking, institution, or organization. """An appeal against the imposition of a fine many be lodged within 14 days with the director next senior in rank, whose decision shall be final." -Dr. Armins Rusis, European Law Division, Law Library, Library of Congress."

Mr. BARTLETT. Since I started to speak, I note that the Junior Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy], who was rather savagely attacked in the Soviet magazine, has entered the Chamber. I know he needs no defense from me; nevertheless, the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Kennedy] is entitled to, and should, receive the very strongest commendation for his vigorous and proper support of the American fishing industry. As to the Russian publication charges against President Kennedy, they will receive serious consideration, I suggest, from no one. I suspect that this applies to the Soviet writers as well as to everyone else. What the President is seeking to do is to build every segment of American society, to improve the lot of all people everywhere, and to insure peace. Finally, as a member of the Commerce Committee, I have been gratified because time after time when legislation concerning the fishing industry has come before that committee, the junior Senator from Massachusetts has appeared as a witness and has given very effective and helpful testimony and has made it easier to report and pass legislation so urgently needed if the American fishing industry is to survive, much less make progress.

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. BARTLETT. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Massachusetts. Mr. KENNEDY. The junior Senator from Massachusetts recognizes the outstanding contribution the Senator from Alaska has made, not only in regard to this important phase of protecting our fishing industry, and of providing our various Federal agencies with the means for essential law enforcement against any of the trespasses by the Soviet Union, or by any other nation, in violation of the territorial waters of the United States, but I think the Senator from Alaska has also provided outstanding leadership in directing this problem to the attention of the Senate and really providing a platform for the fishing industry to bring into international focus the great needs of our fishing industry.

I come here as a junior Senator from a State that realizes the importance of the fishing industry in my home State of Massachusetts, but also recognizes that this problem involves not merely the State of Massachusetts, but the entire eastern seaboard, the gulf coast, the western coast, and also the State of Alaska, which today plays a primary role in providing the American people the benefits of the sea. It is always with true humility that I come before the Commerce Committee and testify before the Senator's subcommittee with regard to legislation dealing with the fishing industry, because we recognize in the State of Massachusetts, as I know personally, the truly outstanding contribution the Senator from Alaska has made.

Once more today, on the floor of the Senate, the Senator from Alaska has presented outstanding examples of violations of territorial waters of the United States. He has brought forth significant evidence on the importance of these violations. I think it is incumbent upon all Members of the Senate to recognize that this situation demands the kind of legislation which has been proposed by the Senator from Alaska, and in which I am indeed delighted to participate. Mr. BARTLETT. I am grateful to the Senator from Massachusetts for what he has had to say. What concerns me, in addition to many other things, and I am sure what concerns the Senator from Massachusetts, is the great probability that if the maritime nations of the world are not prudent, this priceless resource, protein from the sea, will not be available for future populations and future generations.

There

Fishing efforts have expanded enormously in the last 15 years. We do not know, generally speaking, whether there is a condition of overfishing now. may be. What we do know is that it may rapidly approach. Indeed, I am confident the time is now when the maritime nations of the world must get together and must join in research and in appropriate conservation measures, lest these resources, which otherwise can be made renewable forever, will have totally disappeared.