Captain Duarte's sentiments have been echoed by the Fishermen's Union and by representatives of the boatowners.

They are now calling for an extension of our fishing rights, with proposed increases in the territorial zone ranging from 12 all the way to 200 miles. Just yesterday I received a petition from the Seafood Producer's Association in New Bedford calling for measures to keep foreign ships away from our shores and I quote: "even to the extent of 200 miles."

I would like to have this correspondence included in the record, if I could.

Senator BARTLETT. If there is no objection, it will be included.

SEAFOOD PRODUCERS' ASSOCIATION OF NEW BEDFORD, INC.,
New Bedford, Mass., August 31, 1963.

Hon. HASTINGS KEITH,
House Office Building,

Washington, D.C.

DEAR CONGRESSMAN KEITH: At a meeting of this association held August 26, 1963, items of importance were discussed. After consideration, two matters were voted on and it was requested that these votes be presented to you for your consideration and action.

Voted: That we go on record and inform our Congressmen and Senators that this association feels it would be beneficial if foreign ships were kept away from our shores, even to the etxent of 200 miles.

Voted: To inform our Congressmen and Senators that part of the cost of premiums might be assumed by the Federal Government.

The first vote, of course, is because of the intensified fishing by other nations close to our coast and, of course, this will ultimately affect our domestic production of fish, and we feel that conservation and preservation is of utmost importance to our Nation.

The second item is relative to P. & I. insurance on vessels and this is a very heavy burden on all boatowners, and our neighboring Canadian fishermen are being subsidized in their P. & I. insurance so that their P. & I. insurance premiums are just about one-quarter of what our fishermen have to pay.

We trust that you will give our requests your consideration and implement any steps to correct this situation.

Yours truly,

OCTAVIO A. MODESTO,
General Manager.

Mr. KEITH. I know that such a proposal could have many international implications and that any efforts in this direction should be preceded by a very careful and thorough study of the possible disadvantages. I believe we owe it to these fishermen, however, and to our national interests to examine the feasibility of an extension.

engaged in economic warfare with the communistic bloc and we must come to realize that Georges Bank and Nantucket Shoals are battle grounds in this war.

Several years ago, of course, Russian vessels off the east coast were little more than a curiosity to our fishermen. They doubtless had some scientific and propaganda value to Moscow and were something of a headache for our own State Department, which soon became very busy issuing statements that, unfortunate as it may have been, these Communist vessels were fishing in international waters and were therefore protected by international law.

Now, by sheer force of size, speed, number, and weight, this fleet is almost undisputed as ruler of the banks. I have had any number of complaints about such things as net size, the crowding and running down of smaller American vessels, the fouling of our equipment with their unmarked nets, and the necessity of making way for their drift

net tactics. In short, operations by lone American fishing boats are becoming increasingly difficult and even hazardous.

I could go on at length, but this committee is well aware of the intense Soviet activity I describe and of its methods, and I know the committee shares my concern and the concern of the fishermen in my district.

A specific problem that has arisen, however, seems to me an omen of what could be in store for the many Americans who depend on the fishing grounds off our coasts for a living. This is in the fact that the industrial fish catch off Nantucket is down as much as 50 percent this year.

Of course, the Russians have been conducting extensive operations in this area. The impact is already being felt on the economy of New Bedford. A firm which built on the city's waterfront to have ready access to what had always been a plentiful supply of such fish has had to resort this summer to trucking in fish from other areas and has implied that if this situation persists it may be forced to relocate its plant. This could have serious consequences in New Bedford, where unemployment is a continuing problem. Gloucester, I understand, has also reported a substantial decline in landings.

There is much more that I could say about this problem, but I know that the committee's time is limited and I have already ranged beyond the reach of this legislation.

I will sum up by saying that I know S. 1988 will have the full support of the fishing industry in my district, the men who have an almost daily, firsthand contact with one of the problems it seeks to correct. As a matter of fact, I can think of no interest, private or public, that could oppose the objectives of this bill.

It is rather surprising to me, when so much of our economyparticularly in early-day New England has depended on our fishery resources, that appropriate procedures and penalties have not previously been established. The probable reason, of course, is that never in our history have we been faced with so aggressive a threat as that now posed by the Soviet Union. Here again is another hard lesson of the cold war and one that we have been slow to learn. It may prove to be a very expensive lesson, indeed.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I support S. 1988 as a step in the right direction. I think its enactment has been made appropriate by a situation forced upon us. I believe further that its provisions relating to claims to fishery resources on the Continental Shelf are extremely important and will establish a basis for possible further action to define and protect our interests in this area.

This bill takes the kind of action that Americans always seem to be reluctant to take until pushed to the wall, but I think that all of us are now realizing that that time has come.

Thank you.

I have, Mr. Chairman, some photographs that were taken by the Boston Globe and New Bedford Standard-Times. They show the size of the fleet, both as to numbers and as to the types of vessels involved. And I would like very much to present them to the committee. I think they will be helpful in documenting the case, so this legislation and other legislation following can be successfully passed through the Congress.

23-530-63- 4

FIGURE 1.-Russian fishing vessel, one of a fleet photographed off the Massachusetts coast by Boston Globe and New Bedford Times photographers and presented to the committee by Congressman Hastings Keith, of the 12th Congressional District of Massachusetts.

FIGURE 2.-Mothership of the Russian fishing fleet with catchership alongside. This was one of a group of photographs made by Boston Globe and New Bedford Times photographers and presented to the committee by Congressman Hastings Keith, of Massachusetts.

FIGURE 3.-Stern trawler from the Russian fishing fleet photographed with nets in operation as it plied Massachusetts coastal waters. One of a group of photographs made by the Boston Globe and New Bedford Times and presented to the committee by Congressman Hastings Keith.