Hearings

and having arrived here when the land was enshrouded in fog. We were traveling in a Coast Guard plane and made four passes at the landing field, none of them being successful. We had intended if we could get here that day, to travel by ship over to St. George. Now the limitation of time will not make that possible. And so the committee is very grateful to the group from St. George for having come over here to participate in this hearing.

Because the Congress is still in session, we are going to have to leave here tomorrow on the return journey. Before then we hope to get as much testimony as possible, and in other ways acquaint ourselves with the situation here and at St. George so that we may be best prepared to act wisely and well in respect to any legislation affecting these islands and the people of these islands which may be acted upon by the Congress.

So much for that.

There will be printed in full in the record the text of S. 2102. I want all of you to know that this is merely a working draft. Very few bills that are introduced in the Congress, either in the House of Representatives or in the Senate, are passed in the form in which they are introduced. As testimony is taken, ideas are projected and changes are made which are deemed useful to the legislation in question. And so it probably will be in this case.

You should know that not I, as the author of the bill and the Senator who introduced it, nor anyone else, feels it has to be in exactly its present form. As I say, this is a working draft only.

There will be printed in the record at this point the text of the Convention on Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals. I think this information will be essential to a thorough understanding of the problem when the committee considers the bill initially and when the Senate later does.

(The text of the treaty follows:)

(g) other subjects involved in achieving the objectives of the Convention, as determined by the Commission established under Article V, paragraph 1.

3. In furtherance of the research referred to in this Article, each of the Parties agrees to carry out, each year after the entry into force of the Convention, the programs set forth in the Schedule annexed to the Convention with any modifications thereof made pursuant to Article V, paragraph 3. The said Schedule, together with any such modifications, shall be considered an integral part of this Convention.

4. Each Party agrees to provide the Commission annually with information on:

(a) number of black pups tagged for each breeding area;

(b) number of fur seals, by sex and estimated age, taken at sea and on each breeding area; and

and, so far as is practicable, other information pertinent to scientific research which the Commission may request.

5. The Parties further agree to provide for the exchange of scientific personnel; each such exchange shall be subject to mutual consent of the Parties directly concerned.

6. The Parties agree to use for the scientific pelagic research provided for in this Article only government-owned or governmentchartered vessels operating under strict control of their respective authorities. Each Party shall communicate to the other Parties the names and descriptions of vessels which are to be used for pelagic research.

ARTICLE III

In order to realize the purposes of the Convention, including the carrying out of the coordinated and cooperative research, each Party agrees to prohibit pelagic sealing, except as provided in Article II, paragraph 3 and the Schedule, in the Pacific Ocean north of the 30th parallel of north latitude including the seas of Bering, Okhotsk, and Japan by any person or vessel subject to its jurisdiction.

ARTICLE IV

1. Each Party shall bear the expense of its own research. Title to sealskins taken during the research shall vest in the Party conducting such research.

2. If the total number of seals of the Commander Islands breeding grounds decreases and falls below 50,000 head, according to data in official records, then commercial killing of seals and apportionment of skins may be suspended by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until the number of seals exceeds 50,000 head. This provision also applies to the fur seal herd of Robben Island, if the population of that herd becomes less than 50,000 head.

3. The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics upon suspending such sealing shall so inform the other Parties. In this case the Commission shall determine whether or not to reduce the level of or to suspend completely the pelagic sealing for scientific purposes in the Western Pacific Ocean during the period of the said suspension.

4. The Commission may, subsequent to the second year of operation of the Convention, modify the floor figure set forth in paragraph 2 of this Article in accordance with its findings based upon scientific data received by it; and if any such modifications are made, paragraph 2 of this Article shall be considered amended accordingly. The Commission shall notify each Party of every such amendment and of the effective date thereof.

ARTICLE V

1. The Parties agree to establish the North Pacific Fur Seal Commission to be composed of one member from each Party.

2. The duties of the Commission shall be to:

(a) formulate and coordinate research programs designed to achieve the objectives set forth in Article II, paragraph 1;

(b) recommend these coordinated research programs to the respective Parties for implementation;

(d) recommend appropriate measures to the Parties on the basis of the findings obtained from the implementation of such coordinated research programs, including measures regarding the size and the sex and age composition of the seasonal commercial kill from a herd; and

(e) recommend to the Parties at the end of the fifth year after entry into force of this Convention and, if the Convention is continued under the provisions of Article XIII, paragraph 4, at a later year, the methods of sealing best suited to achieve the objectives of this Convention; the above-mentioned later year shall be fixed by the Parties at the meeting early in the sixth year provided for in Article XI.

3. The Commission may, subsequent to the first year of operation of the Convention, modify in accordance with its scientific findings the research programs set forth in the Schedule and, if any such modifications are made, the Schedule shall be considered amended accordingly. The Commission shall notify each Party of every such amendment and of the effective date thereof.

4. Each Party shall have one vote. Decisions and recommendations shall be made by unanimous vote. With respect to any recommendations regarding the size and the sex and age composition of the seasonal commercial kill from a herd, only those Parties sharing in the sealskins from that herd under the provisions of Article IX, paragraph 1 shall vote.

5. The Commission shall elect from its members a Chairman and other necessary officials and shall adopt rules of procedure for the conduct of its work.

6. The Commission shall hold an annual meeting at such time and place as it may decide. Additional meetings shall be held when requested by two or more members of the Commission. The time and place of the first meeting shall be determined by agreement among the Parties.

7. The expenses of each member of the Commission shall be paid by his own Government. Such joint expenses as may be incurred by the Commission shall be defrayed by the Parties by equal contribu

tions. Each Party shall also contribute to the Commission annually an amount equivalent to the value of the sealskins it confiscates under the provisions of Article VI, paragraph 5.

8. The Commission shall submit an annual report of its activities to the Parties.

9. The Commission may from time to time make recommendations to the Parties on any matter which relates to the fur seal resources or to the administration of the Commission.

ARTICLE VI

In order to implement the provisions of Article III, the Parties agree as follows:

1. When a duly authorized official of any of the Parties has reasonable cause to believe that any vessel outfitted for the harvesting of living marine resources and subject to the jurisdiction of any of the Parties is offending against the prohibition of pelagic sealing as provided for by Article III, he may, except within the territorial waters of another State, board and search such vessel. Such official shall carry a special certificate issued by the competent authorities of his Government and drawn up in the English, Japanese, and Russian languages which shall be exhibited to the master of the vessel upon request.

2. When the official after searching a vessel continues to have reasonable cause to believe that the vessel or any person on board thereof is offending against the prohibition, he may seize or arrest such vessel or person. In that case, the Party to which the official belongs shall as soon as possible notify the Party having jurisdiction over the vessel or person of such arrest or seizure and shall deliver the vessel or person as promptly as practicable to the authorized officials of the Party having jurisdiction over the vessel or person at a place to be agreed upon by both Parties; provided, however, that when the Party receiving notification cannot immediately accept delivery of the vessel or person, the Party which gives such notification may, upon request of the other Party, keep the vessel or person under surveillance within its own territory, under the conditions agreed upon by both Parties. 3. The authorities of the Party to which such person or vessel belongs alone shall have jurisdiction to try any case arising under Article III and this Article and to impose penalites in connection therewith.

4. The witnesses or their testimony and other proofs necessary to establish the offense, so far as they are under the control of any of the Parties, shall be furnished with all reasonable promptness to the authorities of the Party having jurisdiction to try the case.

5. Sealskins discovered on seized vessels shall be subject to confiscation on the decision of the court or other authorities of the Party under whose jurisdiction the trial of a case takes place.

6. Full details of punitive measures applied to offenders against the prohibition shall be communicated to the other Parties not later than three months after the application of the penalty.

ARTICLE VII

The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to Indians, Ainos, Aleuts, or Eskimos dwelling on the coast of the waters mentioned in Article III, who carry on pelagic sealing in canoes not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, and propelled entirely by oars, paddles, or sails, and manned by not more than five persons each, in the way hitherto practiced and without the use of firearms; provided that such hunters are not in the employment of other persons or under contract to deliver the skins to any person.

ARTICLE VIII

1. Each Party agrees that no person or vessel shall be permitted to use any of its ports or harbors or any part of its territory for any purpose designed to violate the prohibition set forth in Article III.

2. Each Party also agrees to prohibit the importation and delivery into and the traffic within its territories of skins of fur seals taken in the area of the North Pacific Ocean mentioned in Article III, except only those taken by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the United States of America on rookeries, those taken at sea for research purposes in accordance with the Schedule, those taken under the provisions of Article VII, those confiscated under the provisions of Article VI, paragraph 5, and those inadvertently captured which are taken possession of by a Party; provided, however, that all such excepted skins shall be officially marked and duly certified by the authorities of the Party concerned.

ARTICLE IX

1. The respective Parties agree that, of the total number of sealskins taken commercially each season on land, there shall at the end of the season be delivered a percentage of the gross in number and value thereof as follows:

2. Each Party agrees to deliver such sealskins to an authorized agent of the recipient Party at the place of taking, or at some other place mutually agreed upon by such Parties.

3. In order more equitably to divide the direct and indirect costs of pelagic research in the Western Pacific Ocean, it is agreed:

(a) that in any year in which commercial killing is carried out for both the Commander and Robben Islands herds and pelagic research in that area is carried on at a level of 2,000 or more seals:

(1) Canada and Japan will forego the delivery of the sealskins by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as set forth in paragraph 1 of this Article; and

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