350110

JPRS 82067

25 October 1982

Worldwide Report

LAW OF THE SEA

No. 21 1

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JPRS 82067

25 October 1982

WORLDWIDE REPORT

LAW OF THE SEA

No. 211

CONTENTS

WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

U.S. Spurning of LOS Treaty Upsets South Pacific Nations

(Various sources, various dates)

Concern Over Fishing Rights

South Pacific Forum Communique

Christchurch 'PRESS' Editorial

ASIA

INTER-ASIAN AFFAIRS

New Zealand Company Makes Biggest Tuna Sale to Japan

(THE EVENING POST, 8 Sep 82)

AUSTRALIA

Prawn Fishermen Recount Tuna Incidents With Japanese

(THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 16 Sep 82) 5

Oil, Gas Found at West Barrow Offshore Well Site

(THE COURIER-MAIL, 15 Sep 82) 7

Briefs

Tasmania Fishing Operation 9

NW Shelf Tower 9

Fishing Policy Proposals 9

Japan-Australia Tuna Talks 10

Dampier Offshore Drilling 10

Bass Strait Drilling 10

-a - [III - WW - 136]
INDIA

Official Stresses Need To Protect Offshore Wealth

(THE STATESMAN, 2 Sep 82) 11

Experts Tell of Profit in Ocean Tuna-Fishing

(THE TIMES OF INDIA, 31 Aug 82) 12

Briefs

Oil Off Pondicherry 13

Thai Vessels Confiscated 13

NEW ZEALAND

Survey of Fish Populations on Chatham Rise Encouraging

(THE PRESS, 8 Sep 82) 14

Briefs

Offshore Oil License 15

LATIN AMERICA

INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS

CARICOM LOS Conference: Jamaica Reaffirms Commitment

(THE DAILY GLEANER, 17 Sep 82) 16

Briefs

Caribbean Shrimp Study 18

BUB-SAHAKAN AFRICA

SEYCHELLES

Reportage on FAO Regional EEZ Seminar

(NATION, various dates) 19

To Coordinate Surveillance

Common Objectives

Fishing Resources

WEST EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

International Disputes Aired at Nordic Fishing Conference

(AFTENPOSTEN, 27 Aug 82) 23

Norway, Denmark in Dispute Over Capelin Fishing Off Svalbard

(Alf G. Andersen; AFTENPOSTEN, 27 Aug 82) 25

EC Commissioner Warns Greenland on Blocking Fishing by FRG

(BERLINGSKE TIDENDE, 27 Sep 82) 27

- b -
WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

U.S. SPURNING OF LOS TREATY UPSETS SOUTH PACIFIC NATIONS

Concern Over Fishing Rights

Auckland THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD in English 10 Aug 82 p 5

[Text] South Pacific nations, managers of the world's largest ocean area, are highly:

concerned that the United States has decided not to sign the Law of the Sea Convention. -;:':

'••.' .'

The forum is' expected "to

adopt-a motion regretting the

United States decision and it

will urge all forum members;

to sign the convention.:;- .

The Prime Minister, Mr

Muldoon, last night strongly:

endorsed the forum's core

cern over the failure- of the

United States to sign the* con-1

verition.

The,forum was quite firm

in its Views' that after years

of negotiations it was reasonable-to hope there would

have "been a conclusion; Mr

Muldoon said. '

Tuna fishing is a major

economic resource for many

nations and the American decision leaves doubt in the

minds of many over their;

i rights to the resource. j

i Mr Muldoon said the forum:

[hoped the United' States

(would change its mind and

! there was likely to be a reference to its stance in a

communique expressing the

forum's view that all nations

should sign the convention.

Recognition

The United States appeared to have gone some way

by allowing its tuna boats to

be registered by the countries in whose waters they

fished. '.• .

It >as a sort of de facto

recognition, he said.

-' Some of the nations plan to

mine undersea for manganese and other minerals.'

Forum nations, assisted by'

the-United Nations, are now

engaged in a major oceanic

research project on the:

seabed between Fiji, New

Zealand and Vanuatu. '

The forum' resolution is

likely to press strongly for

other developed nations not

to follow the United States

example.

Many forum countries,

Papua New Guinea and Fiji

in particular, have already

invested millions of dollars

l in tuna fishing. . .,

Advantage

The United" States deploys

dozens of tuna clippers in the

region, mostly working under

to-operative arrangements

With the Pacific Islands concerned.

A forum fisheries agency

was set up several years ago

to help to develop the tuna

resource to the best advantage of all member na-,

:

tions.

The agency is now set to

become a regional tuna' co-,

operative for all 13 forum nations and it may eventually

become the manager of the

world's largest migratory

fish resource.

The agency director, Mr P. j "They are not as well disMuller, said the main aim jciplined as the others and

was to raise fishing benefit seem to tell the. American

for all by providing technical [Government what to do."

help and advice.

Vast Zone

'' The agency could also become the political voice of

the region for fishing matters, he said. But that would

be up to the forum governments rather than agency

staff.

' The level of foreign fishing

activity within the agency's

vast zone is now being established.

"At least half of the'

: American tuna fleet now

operates in the Pacific," Mr

Müller said.

" Between 2000 and 3000

Asian-owned pole and line

tuna boats also operated in

the areaRelations had improved between forum nations and the

foreign fishermen from beyond the region who fished

there, he said.

Foreign fishermen were

beginning to 'seek accommodation with island interests, American fishermen

were the most difficult to

deal with.

Lower Profits

The Americans had a high

amount of capital invested in

their sophisticated tuna clippers and wanted large profits from relatively short

term speculation.

Japanese fishermen were

prepared to accept lower

profits and preferred long

term arrangements, Mr Müller said.

The lucrative southern blue

fin tuna, in which the New

Zealand industry is now inj vesting, could be in danger

of being overfished, he said.

The agency was waiting

for marine biologists to come

up with figures to indicate

suitable fishing limits.

The southern blue fin tuna

has been heavily worked,

mostly by Japanese tuna

long liners, for the last 20

years to provide fish for

Japan's famous sashimi dish.
South Pacific Forum Communique

Auckland THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD in English 11 Aug 82 p 20

[Text] The South Pacific Forum wants the United States to revise its fisheries policy to take into account the vital economic interests of the 13 member nations.

„It has also severely chastised nations like Japan,

which link aid donations to

fishing rights.

j

; The member nations of the

jorum, which includes Australia and New Zealand, yesterday issued a tough communique registering their

grave concern over American fishing policy, .• '-

The communique said fishpries within the region,

I which extends from the Cook

[Islands to Australia and

from the Federated States of

'Micronesia to New Zealand,

was of vital importance, parjMculariy as far as migratory

|äpecies were concerned.:

! There had been a virtually

pnanimous recognition of the

^sovereign rights of coastal

states to exploit the resources of their fisheries

zones, including migratory

species, through the adoption

of the April 30, 1982, Law of

the Sea Convention.

Principles Clash

The forum took note that

the United States asserted its

Own rights to control billfish,

which were highly migratory, within l its own 200-mile

zone!

;. In making that point the

forum communique points up

an apparent conflict of

American principles, where

AC attitude is. adopted by

$he United States regarding

'migratory fish in its own

Iwaters, and another is

fadopted about migratory

(fish, such as tüna, m- other

Illations' zones.'

|v About half of fee American

[tuna clipper fleet now works

tin forum waters and United

SStates fisheries policy' does

•not now recognise the right

pi forum nations to regulate

loatches and license boats.

: •• The forum communique I

said there were serious im-'

plications . resulting from

those policies which could

have a bearing on the wider

relationship of the United

^States with forum members.

Trade Reprisals

The forum is extremely!

»concerned about the response

«f the United States to the

'action of forum members

[which try to protect their reisources. ...

I On that point, the com-

,mun&ue refers to American

laws which make provision

for trade reprisals against

nations which arrest United

IStates fishing boats or fine

their crews for fisheries offences not recognised by the

«United States.

The communique affirms

the commitment of the

•forum countries to develop

their fisheries resources for

the benefit of their peoples,

and expresses regret that the

exclusive right of these nations to exploit highly migratory fish within their fisheries zones is not yet recognised by the United States/

It urges America to revise

its policy on migratory spe-i

cies.

Right To Fish

The forum also criticised

Japan and other nations

which link aid donations with

access to their waters.

The communique said it

was essential that these resources produced the maximum benefit for their people

and it deplored the increasing tendency of distant fishing nations to link the grant

lor aid with the right to fish

their waters.

On the aid issue, the forum

spokesman, the President of

Kiribati, Mr Ieremia Tabai

said Japan was the major

fishing nation, and an aid

donor to the region.

^ He suggested aid was

heilig used as a lever to gain

access to fishing grounds,

jand added: "If you do not

[give us the right to fish you

;do not get the aid. It was

that kind of lever.

The forum agreed yesterday to accept the Federated

States of Micronesia as a

, member of the forum fish

[ eries agency.
Christchurch ^PRESS' Editorial

Christchurch THE PRESS in English 10 Aug 82 p 22

[Editorial: "South Pacific Issues"]

[Excerpts] The issues before the South Pacific Forum

S; meeting in Rotorua are all important to

'; the region. They are generally issues that

] have been raised before; the fact that they

i recur year after year means that they have

t not been resolved. One of the most

• important was the fishing rights question,

I raised 'yesterday. This concerns the fact

i that the United States,has still not agreed

i to recognise highly migratory species of

I fish, in this instance tuna, as coming under

I; the jurisdiction of coastal States. The point

! may seem technical; but a number of the

' smaller members of the South Pacific

I Forum have almost no marketable

:• resources other than the fish that surround

s their islands or pass through waters close

> to their islands. The United States, which

„occasionally shows signs of wanting to

| meet the demands of the small Pacific

| countries, faces pressure from its fishing

? industry. The American industry does riot

». want highly migratory species of fish to be _

} considered as part of the resources of any

|i country's Exclusive Economic Zone.

i.' The South Pacific Forumihas adopted

\ an approach of regional co-operation on

% fishing resources; In 1979 the members

i established the Forum Fisheries Agency.

|,This is one of the bodies which attempts to

pjdeal with the region's problems in a

'practical way." New Zealand and Australia

! each pay one-third of the agency's budget

I'and the remaining third is divided, among

\ the other Forum countries. Because tuna is

i the most valuable species that some island

^countries have, these countries are

* particularly anxious that their claims to

: the fish are recognised internationally.

v ' Linked with" this is the problem of the

; United States' refusal to sign the Law of

\. the Sea treaty. New Zealand has protested

i: about the American refusal on a number of

; occasions. Although the United: State's is

one of the few countries not to sign the

treaty, the purpose of the whole exercise

was to have an internationally recognised

,i code on, rights of coastal States, on the

passage through international waters, and

on a host of other matters. The very

existence of Exclusive Economic Zones

arises out of the Law. of the Sea

negotiations. '

'"" AttemptsTo"ilhare ideas on fisheries,

Law of the Sea, and independence for a

territory, demonstrate the usefulness of the

South Pacific Forum, the body has evolved

in a way that" it makes it pre-eminently

suitable to consider the questions of the

region. From time to time in the past it

has tended to concentrate on the detail of

regional arrangements and has thereby

caused some irritation among some of its

members. However, it now seems to be

sorting out the issues of moment in the

region and to be seeking to deal with them.

In doing this the Forum serves a purpose

not served by any other body. Some of the

issues may not be resolved at all, but a

number of problems Will be eased and the

combined effort tends to produce many

voices in concert when, on their own, South

Pacific voices would be thin and might be

unnecessarily out of tune.

CSO: 5200/9105
INTER-ASIAN AFFAIRS

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY MAKES BIGGEST TUNA SALE TO JAPAN

Wellington THE EVENING POST in English 8 Sep 82 p 12

[Text] A converted long-line fishing boat is due in Nelson this week,

crammed with frozen tuna worth $5.22 million, after an exercise

unique in New Zealand fishing.

The tuna, 290 tonnes of it,

is bound for the Japanese

market in the same boat

which has been cruising off

the West Coast for the last

10 weeks.

The sale is the biggest of

its kind. It represents a cQupi

for the Nelson company

Solander Fisheries, and the

Ministry of Agriculture and

Fisheries, which has backed.v

the venture with its €x-i

pertise. -. • . ,' ...' '• •'.,;'•

The catch'is expected to

be the largest single catch:

landed by any foreign coim*

try in Japan. '' .-.

The art of correctly processing southern bluefin tuna

for the Japanese market has .

eluded New Zealand and

Australian fishermen since,

the first efforts were made

in the early 1970s.

The tuna had Ibeen netted

off the West Coast in among ;

the hok.i catches, and a ministry research scientist, Mr,:

David Gibson, discovered

how the fish was cleaned'

correctly while working on ä

Japanese, long-liner in 1979.'

He followed this up with'

a visit to J^pan, then drew '

up a manual which was sent

back to Japan for. vetting.

"Preparing' the fish is an

involved process," said Mr

Gibson. It is. gilled and

gutted, but if the ^digestive

tract is cut the'flesh is (jam,-..

igUsr-X"''^ y!" '-.=•• '

,

/

He put his theory to the

test in' the;isame year ,by

catching," preparing'and exporting one fish weighing 94!

kilograms. It fetched $16 a'

kilogram. J

A shipment of 10 fish followed, with similar results,

and the ministry then set up

courses which have so far

trained 120 New Zealand

fishermen.

i .

On the basis of this

Solander Fisheries chartered

a boat last year and exported 170 tonnes of tuna to

Japan. ;The whole shipment

was bought because it had

been prepared in accordance

with Mr Gibson's manual.

The catch earned the New

Zealand company $1.4 million. ,•'..,••'?

This year, Solander Fisheries, encouraged by the

Fishing Industries Board,

and both the research and

fisheries management

divisions .of the Ministry of

Agriculture'..and Fisheries,

bought, a- long-line fishing

boat and refitted it with a

helicpper pad and giant

freezers.

It plied the 'c&fs't; taking

catches from a fleet;of up to

54 boats coming from, as far

as Auckland, preparing and

freezing them...; }•..}

They had found:that two

men fishing on a 20.metro

fishing boat could catch an

average of 5.6 fish a day on

hand lines, while a standard

long-liner carrying 21 crew

landed 11.5 fish, said Mr

Gibson.

"The small-boat system

was much more economic."

During its cruise over the

last 10 weeks, the Daniel

Solander has exported tuna

direct to Japan, sendingit-by

helicopter then truck to

Christchureh or Auckland,

from where it has.been airfreighted to Tokyo.

But the major catch, 290

tonnes of tuna, is in the holds

of the Daniel Solander which

will sail direct for Japan after its call at Nelson.

There the whole catch

will be sold to a single buyer

for redistribution. New Zealand tuna landed by

Japanese boats is earning

$18 a kilogram.

Mr Gibson said that now

New Zealanders knew the,

Japanese method of processing the tuna, the $90 million

the Japanese made from the

fish last year could eventually become New Zealand's.

CSO: 5200/9106
PRAWN FISHERMEN RECOUNT TUNA INCIDENTS WITH JAPANESE

Sydney THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD in English 16 Sep 82 p 12

AUSTRALIA

[Text]

North Coast prawn fishermen

are pressing the Federal Minister for Primary Industry, Mr

Nixon, to exclude Japanese

long-line tuna fishermen from

rich new prawn grounds.

They say the Japanese lines are

fouling prawning gear-and trawler

propellers. ' ..'., >

One,fisherman,: Mr Eric Toyer,

öf Yambä, said that four out of six

prawning .trips he. made to the

^grounds in late Ausust and early

September had to be aborted be-

' cause of trouble with the lines. ' ,

On one trouble-free trip, he

\ took in 4£ tonnes of the prawns,

known as royal reds. On another,

' he took about 3i tonnes. The value

of these two catches was more

than $10,500.

Although these Were valuable

catches, costs of the trips and the

. capital investment involved were

high, he said.

In a letter to Mr Nixon he has

asked that in current negotiations

for a 1983 fishing agreement with

Japan the long-liners be excluded

from a zone 30 nautical miles

from the coast.

(i He writes ; of the "extreme

| frustration" of the Australians and

' the possibility of "incidents."

The prawning grounds, discovered off the far North Coast by the

,: NSW fisheries research vessel Kapala, are _in depths between 220

t fathoms arid 300 fathoms about 24

I nautical miles from the coast.

The northern boundary is due

; east of Evans Head and the southern close to North Solitary Island, i

The grounds have been increasingly worked since 1977 by the

larger boats from Ballina, Evans

Head, Jiuka, Yamba and Coffs

Harbour.

Mr Toyer said yesterday: "Since

the establishment of the 200 nautical mile Australian fishing zone,

Japanese boats have been licensed'

. to work in the area up to the 12-

mile limit to exploit tuna stocks

which at present are not sought by

the Australian fishermen in any

numbers.

"However this area is exploited

by the Australian trap fishermen,

Whose traps on the bottom are attached to marker buoys, and since

1977, following the discovery of

the royal red prawn grounds, by

fishermen with boats capable of

trawling in deep water.

"Although instances of trap

buoys being lost and trawling gear'

fouled by long lines have occurred

in the past, the incidence of these

events has increased dramatically

in the past 12 months." >

Mr Toyer said the Japanese

were working in the area legally,

but the Australian fishermen want-'

ed them excluded from the 30-mile

zone. There appeared to be adequate stocks of tuna beyond this

line, and the distance provided ä

buffer zone between the two types

of fishing operations.

^Long-lining involves setting ' a

I line up tö 10 nautical miles long,

suspended aibout six to eight fathoms below the surface from buoys.

From this, dropper' lines are laid,

baited with yellowtail for the tuna.
j. As..they are not anchored, the

i long-lines drift with the current

|,and 'will pick up any marker bouy

'ropes attached to traps or will foul

'trawling gear when they drift over

.the narrow band of prawns being

;'worked bythe Australian boats.

j-j This is Mr Toyer's record of

^.events on, the Royal Red grounds

:involvink his boat Topaz, at 18.4

\\ metres the largest in the Yamba

/fleet::

August 15: Trawl aborted after

' two Japanese long-lines encoun-

:

tefed.

:

: August 22: Afterone carcth of

,150 kilograms of prawns, the three

i nets on the next trawl came to the

''surface entangled with a long-line.

r Disentangling took four hours, and

| the next day was lost setting up

J the trawl gear again.

?:.' August 22: After one catch of

working around the Topaz on the

| grounds, and at times their lines

. were within 200 metres of the

h boat. But the trip was trouble-free

; and 4,565 kilogram of prawns were

f caught.

\

!

:, Septamber 1: After catching 200

.kilograms of prawns, long-lines

.; were picked upon three occasions,

I" then one long-line caught around

I the propeller. After further eri-

| counters with long-lines the trip

!c was, aborted so the propeller could

I be cleared in port.

}: September 3: Found a long-line

j, set in the trawl area. Pursued longt line vessel, "but could, not catch it

I to identify it.

I September 4: Trouble free trip,

p total catch 3,490 kilograms.

f A claim by Mr Toyer , for

'-': $10,646 for lost income and repair

H costs from the trips has been sent

^".to the Japanese Tuna Federation.

I Mr Toyer said yesterday he had

| reported some of the incidents to

'the Department of Primary In-

' dustry arid the Coastal Surveil-

* lance.

i.. "The department stated that all

* Japanese long-line vessels had been

I directed to leave this area and not

fish within 30 miles .of the coast,"

; he said.

' "However the Japanese Tuna

: Federation interpreted this message

'as not to fish within the 272-fath-

; oni line. The vessel we saw on September 3 had. set. lines in 120 fathoms, 170 fathoms and 262 fathkoms."

i; A Coastal Surveillance air patrol

!>of the area on September 3 had

'found a Japanese longtime vessel

, 25 riiiles from the coast, he said.

No boats were in the area on

f September 4, but they had reit turned by September 6.

Mr Toyer said the Australian

% boats had, tried to speak to the

| Japanese boats, but generally had

; been unsuccessful, with,the Japan-.

;ese moving away when apf proached:

i. Mr Toyer says in his letter to

i Mr Nixon that unless the 30-mile

zone is, established, "it is inevitable

that incidents will occur between

vessels of the two nations."

"These incidents could have potentially serious consequences for

four trading relationships," he

writes.

; ."We do request that Australian

.boats be given a fair go to exploit

: a resource found and developed by

;-Australians arid which provides a

considerable employment potential

;,. . . without being subject to accidental or deliberate harassment by

overseas-based boats." :

r A spokesman for the Department of Primary Industry said yes-

\ terday the department had

-informed Japanese officials of the

•complaints.

! The matter would be taken further, when the department nego-

, tiated the tuna-fishing agreement

with the Japanese.

' A new agreement comes into force

: each year on November 1.

A spokesman for the Japanese

Embassy said the Japanese Tuna

Federation had asked Japanese

fishermen to exercise restraint.

CS0: 5200/7503
AUSTRALIA

OIL, GAS FOUND AT WEST BARROW OFFSHORE WELL SITE

Brisbane THE COURIER-MAIL in English 15 Sep 82 p 40

[Text] [Editor's Note: In its report on the West Barrow drilling, Perth's

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN of 15 September 1982, page 73, ran the following map]

* Offshore Oil and its partners say they have made a

* significant hydrocarbon discovery in the offshore Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia.

They reported yesterday that the West Barrow 1A

f well had been suspended at 3520 metres after oil and gas

! shows in the Mardie greensand and Barrow group strata.

I But their run of breakdowns, which has considerably

; delayed this well, continued with "technical problems"

i preventing drill stem tests.

The partners said analysis indicated that a 110-metre

1 net pay zone below 3376 metres contained high API

} gravity (light) hydrocarbons.

1 A further well was planned for early next year to

r determine the thickness of the main hydrocarbon zone

\~ and to test the zone and overlying reservoirs.

h The joint venturers are Offshore 24 percent, Diai mond Shamrock Oil Co. 13.5, Southern Cross Explorai tion 12, Offshore Oil (Far East) 10, Hallmark Minerals j

t 9, Charterhall Oil 6.5, Reading and Bates, Southern

[ Energy, Sovereign Oil 5 percent each, Magnet Metals,

Lennard Oil, Stirling Petroleum and Monarch Petrole-

'' urn 2.5 each.

i In the Amadeus Basin, where the Mereenie partners

I are continuing appraisal drilling of the production lease

I areas, the East Mereenie No.9 well has struck gas in the

V; upper Pacoota sandstone, the top of the target area for

previous oil discoveries.

i Operator Oilmin said gas flowed at 130,260 cubic

metres a day during a drill stem test of the 1333-1339

; metres interval.

;

Interests are Magellan 35 percent, Oilmin 21, Canso

(Resources 15, Transoil 9, Petromin 7.5, Flinders Petroleum and Moonie Oil 6.25 each.

P Australian Aquitaine said yesterday the drillship

fGlomar Grand Isle had gone to Singapore after finishing its work in the Bonaparte Gulf offthe Northern Ter-

'ritory. No work was available in Australian waters.

V However, the Australian flag semi-submersible drill

Vjfig Ocean Digger was being kept in Australian waters in

accordance with Federal Government policy. : & It was being towed to Bass Strait to drill in the P17

area, starting next week. ?
CSO: 5200/7503
AUSTRALIA

BRIEFS

TASMANIA FISHING OPERATION—Three merged Tasmanian companies will spend $7.2

million to set up one of the biggest and most modern fishing operations in the

country. The State's senior federal minister, the Minister for Administrative

Services, Mr Newman, describes the development as a morale booster to a

depressed economy and the people of Tasmania. The new company, Allied Fisheries

Tasmania Pty Ltd, will build its own boats, research its own fishing areas, do

its own fishing, processing and marketing. It will create 200 jobs. The company hopes to have built five new fishing boats by June next year and eventually

20 to work the waters around the State for eel, shark, scale fish, abalone, crayfish, oysters and scallops. The new venture results from the merger of three

northern Tasmanian companies, Launceston Shipyards Pty Ltd, Crustacean Fisheries

Pty Ltd, and Allied Fisheries Tasmania Pty Ltd. [Text] [Canberra THE AUSTRALIAN

in English 18 Aug 82 p 3]

NW SHELF TOWER—Adelaide—A big piece of Australia's biggest resources project

slid into the Port River at Adelaide on Saturday in preparation for a 4000 km

journey to WA's North-West Shelf. The flare tower for the first stage of the

$5000 million North-West Shelf gas project was loaded sideways down two 220-

metre-long inclined concrete slipways into the river channel. It is a selffloating structure. This week it will be towed by an ocean-going tug to the

site of the North Rankin-A production platform, 130km off the WA coast. The

tower and an even longer flare bridge have been constructed in Adelaide over

the past 15 months by a joint venture of Eglo Engineering and Brown and Root.

Measuring 150 metres—about 16 metres: taller than the Sydney Harbour Bridge—

the tower will be piled 120 metres into the sea bed as part of the production

platform. Off-shore production-platform work began in May, when the huge

eight-legged steel jacket section of the North Rankin-A platform arrived from

Japan. The flare tower and bridge will support the flare stack, which is a

safety valve used in an emergency to flare off gas from the platform. The

bridge section is expected to leave Port Adelaide later this week on the same

barge that was used to bring the jacket section from Japan. [Text] [Perth

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN in English 23 Aug 82 p 5]

FISHING POLICY PROPOSALS—BANGKOK, Sunday—The Australian Government and the

Northern Territory Government are studying proposals for new fishery and onshore industrial projects for the Arafura Sea and the NT. Main points of projects suggested by an Australian businessman here are: New fishing licences
for the Arafura Sea to be granted only to Australian-registered trawlers. The

new fishery consortium would construct fish processing, freezing and canning

plants on shore. A free industrial and trading zone under local government

control to be established in Northern Territory coastal areas. The businessman,

Mr Frederick Wehbe, said he had put up the plan because Australia was getting

too little out of the exploitation of its fishing grounds by foreigners. Most

of the Arafura Sea fishing was in the hands of Taiwanese trawler owners who

took the catch to Taiwan. Mr Wehbe runs an Australian-Norwegian fish-processing

factory in Bangkok. He said the Australian Government was considering issuing

licences for 28 Thai trawlers to fish in the Arafura Sea, and it seemed Canberra

was prepared to let them fish for derisory licence fees. The catch would be

taken to Thailand for processing and Australia would get nothing out of it.

[Sydney THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD in English30 Aug 82 p 2]

JAPAN-AUSTRALIA TUNA TALKS—Sydney, 12 Oct KYODO—Japan and Australia have

concluded this year's tuna longline fishing talks with a renewed agreement

to be signed in Canberra at the end of this month, officialsisaid Tuesday.

The two countries agreed to set 1982-1983 charges for tuna longline fishing

in Australian waters at 1.44 million Australian dollars, up 7.7 percent from

the previous year. Japan's fishing boat operations in Australia's 200 seamile zone will be limited to a 10-20 mile area off the coast of New South Wales,

but other details are unchanged from the preceding agreement, the officials

said. The Australian side showed a flexible attitude toward the question of

tuna resources conservation and the two countries and New Zealand will continue

to negotiate, sources close to the talks said. The number of Japanese tuna

long-liners will total 350 vessels, unchanged from the previous year, the officials said. iText] [OW141057 Tokyo KYODO in English 0254 GMT 12 Oct 82]

DAMPIER OFFSHORE DRILLING—Candice No 1, the first well to be drilled on what

is regarded as the highly prospective WA-192-P, was spudded in last Friday.

Mr Alan Bond, chairman of Bond Corporation Holdings Ltd, which has a

25 per cent stake in the permit area, said that Candice was the first of three

wells -to be drilled there this financial year. The work would cost Bond

Corporation $11.25m., or half its total exploration budget for the year. The

permit area stretches from 53km east of Barrow Island into the North-West coast

near Dampier. Mr Bond said that it had been the most sought-after permit in

Australia when it was put up for tender last year and the exploration commitments won from the successful tenderers were a record for WA. More than

6,000km of seismic had been shot over the permit area this year. The well

was being drilled by the jack-up rig Maerisk Valiant in 19m of water and was

programmed to 2,300m. Drilling would take 60 to 80 days. Other partners are

Australian Occidental Pty Ltd (27 per cent), Ranger Oil Australia Ltd (17 per

cent), Texas Eastern Inc (10 per cent), Reading and Bates Australia Pty Ltd

(8.5 per cent), Pontoon Oil and Minerals (7.5 per cent) and Pelsart Oil NL

(five percent). [Text] [Perth THE WEST AUSTRALIAN in English 7 Sep 82 p 47]

BASS STRAIT DRILLING—Melbourne—The new semi-submersible drilling rig Nymphea

is scheduled to arrive in Victorian waters late this year to begin a series

of wells in Vic-P19 in Bass Strait, Mincorp said yesterday. The rig, being

built at the Hitachi Zosen shipyard, is expected to leave Japan on Octover 12,

Mincorp said. Its first well, Volador, is expected to start in late November

or early December, the company said. Shell Australia, with a 40 percent stake,

is the operator for Vic-P19. TNT has 20 percent, News Ltd, 20 percent,

Crusader 15 percent and Mincorp 5 percent. [Text] [Brisbane THE COURIER-MAIL

in English 14 Sep 82 p 30]

CSO: 5200/7503 10
OFFICIAL STRESSES NEED TO PROTECT OFFSHORE WEALTH

Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English 2 Sep 82 p 3

INDIA

[Text] It» EAR Admiral S. Jain, Flag-.

|XV Officer Commanding, Eastern

SFleet, stressed in Calcutta 6n Wednesday the need to strengthen

protection ' of India's off-shore

»wealth while-commissioning the

Sixth Seaward Defence' Boat built

by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders

and Engineers. The vessel will

Iserve on the western coast

The defence boat can cruise in

[shallow waters because. of its

(small draught. It is fitted with

light armament, radar and sonar

;and Is ideal for protection of off-

-shore wealth during peace and

for defence of harbour and patrolling of its approaches in war. Öf the six ships of the type built

so far, two have been handed over,

to the Coast Guards with minor

modifications. The other four are.

with the Navy. Seven similar vessels are under construction at the

Garden Reach yard.

The FOC said that the diefence

?boats were also equipped to meet

threats to off-shore installations

/from under water. The sonar was."

ipowerful enough to detect not

;bnly enemv submarines but also

^midgets .and chariots. It had facilities on:board to throw explosive

Icharges to deter enemy divers.

§The Admiral agreed that *now-asdays threat in the sea often came

Ifrom under water andPadded that

ithe Indian Navy was equipped to

fmeet it '

He regretted that , the vessel,'

\ which was commissioned on WedInesday, had taken almost five

tyeafs to be completed. Some of

• the naval ships built at the workfshop had to face problems, while

Aunder construction, he said. He

Ihoped that the ships to be built

'there in future would be deliveries quickly.

' Commodore A. K. Sarkar, chair-

; ,man and managing director of the

! Garden Reach workshop, told reiporters that the delay in construejtion of the ship .was because; of

Cthe troubled, industrial relations

which it had faced some time ago.

rlh his address, Commodore Sarkar

§ said that the commissioned vessel

f had been designed locally. The inijtial problems in designing and

building the defence boats hadi

f^now been overcome.

'The Garden Reach workshop,

«he said, was also building a large

landing craft and a. few survey

vessels : and an improved version

of the Seaward Defence Boat. The

landing craft, which had been designed indigenously, would be ,the

.largest navaj,_ship to have been

built in the-country. The workshop would soon start the manu-,

ffacture .of a 'few sophisticated

combat ships. .; ,

v Commodore Sarkaj1felt that the

Navy-should entrust the repair of

^certain ships with the workshop.

The infrastructure and experties

(for repair of\ naval shins existed

fin Calcutta.,A major outfitting facility oriented „towards; naval shlpSfbuilding was being .set up at the

|workshop and. the facilities could

£be utilized for naval ship repair.

CSO: 5200/7055

11
INDIA

EXPERTS TELL OF PROFIT IN OCEAN TUNA-FISHING

Bombay THE TIMES OF INDIA in English 31 Aug 82 p 7

[Text] I SEW BELHI, August 30 (UNI):

fishery planners should shake off

Itneir "apathy" to the development of

ftuha fishing in the high seas — a

jprofitable field in which even some

ijtton-lndian Ocean countries are planE"""ig to enter.

This view has been expressed by

o leading fishery scientists of the

{country, Dr. E. G. Silas and Dr.

p>. P. Pillai of the Central Marine

«Fisheries Research Institute run by the

fSndian Council of Agricultural Rellearch (ICAR).

;| The average annual catch of tunas,

|4una-Iike fishes and billfishes in the

Iworld in the last, few years has been

|about 2,14 million tonnes, of which

fithe production from the Indian Ocean

*is estimated at 0,25 million tonnes.

It has been estimated that the exploitable potential yield of tunas and

;' »Hied fishes from India's 'exclusive

a economic zone (EEZ) is 240,000 ton/'

t'Bes, against which production in 1979

fwas hardly 26,600 tonnes, ]

I The value of tunas and allied fishes

^produced commercially in -. Indian

t: waters is about Rs, 90 million'a year.

|It is proposed to achieve a producffion target of 115,000 tonnes valued

lit Rs. 922 million by 1990.

| Indigenous production in the small

('scale fishery sector has augmented

fjproduction of coastal species of tunas.

j'The production in Lakshadweep has

?gone.up from 7,800 in 1981 to 26,000

Ifonnes in 1979, the country is still

^practically in the same stage as in

|

;

I961 as far as exploitation of retsources from the -exclusive economic

jKone and contiguous high seas are

jconcerned.

f;' A well-established tuna longline

Ifishery exists in the Indian Ocean,

! which was Astarted by the Japanese

fan 1952. Both Taiwan and South

I Korea have entered the field in the

I'sixtieS. :. . • ' '., . \;

f, Some of the constraints in the development of; tuna fishery, in,. Indian

waters1 are lack ofy.ofganised-ifishery'

«for tunas except i# Eakshadfreep; in-

;;%dequate marketin'g,:system, and uh-

|willingness to adopt capital intensive

^operations such as purse seining >nd

llonglining.

|; The scientists have also suggested a

terash programme for training personsael on Sie operational side. They

jhave recommended the establishment

|öf an internatiotial commission for

«conservation of Indian Ocean tuna.

CS0: 5200/7054

12
INDIA

BRIEFS

OIL OFF PONDICHERRY—NEW DELHI, Sept. 9—Oil has been struck for the first

time in the Porto Novo Structure, 40 km off the coast of Pondicherry, reports

PTI. Oil was accompanied by gas in the well, the fourth in the area. Gas

was struck earlier in one of the two wells taken up for drilling by the Oil

and Natural Gas Commission in 1980. Tests are being conducted to determine

the flow rate in the new well spudded on July 27. Porto Novo is north of

the Palk Strait, where oil was struck a year ago in the first well at a flow

rate of 1,050 barrels a day. The next two wells in the Palk Strait showed

slight traces of oil or gas. The ONGC then moved in to drill the fourth and

the fifth wells there. The new find came up at a depth of 1,400 metres in

the fourth well. The well is being tested and the flow-rate of oil and gas

is expected to be known in the next few days. The 350-ton deck of the burntout SJ platform at Bombay High was cut and removed to the Derrick Barge Hercules this morning in preparation for the capping of the blow-out SJ-5 2311,

according to ONGC sources here today. [Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English

10 Sep 82 p 1]

THAI VESSELS CONFISCATED—The Judicial Magistrate of the Andaman and Nicober

Islands confiscated three vessels of Thailand and sentenced 51 foreign nationals on August 11 to various terms of imprisonment for unauthorizedly entering the territorial waters of the islands and illegally fishing by using detonators and other explosives, according to a Union Government Press note

issued in Calcutta on Tuesday. The Judicial Magistrate, Mr B. N. Bera, in

his judgment sentenced the 51 foreign nationals to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 months and pay a fine of Rs 500 each, in default of to rigorous

imprisonment for a further period of two months under the Foreigners' Act.

They were further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three months

each for offences under the Fisheries Regulation. They were also sentenced

to rigorous imprisonment for one and a half years for offences under the Indian

Explosives Act. The sentences would run concurrently, the note added. [Calcutta THE STATESMAN in English 25 Aug 82 p 3]

CSO: 5200/7053

13
NEW ZEALAND

SURVEY OF FISH POPULATIONS ON CHATHAM RISE ENCOURAGING

Christchurch THE PRESS in English 8 Sep 82 p 7

[Text] ;

A survey of orange roughy

on the Chatham Rise, made

by fisheries research scientists, has been described as

most encouraging.

The scientists, from the

Ministry of Agriculture and

Fisheries Research Division,

returned to Dunedin on Sunday after a six-week

research cruise aboard a cooperative venture vessel.

The leader of the research

team, Dr Don Robertson,

said that high catch rates in

the first part of the trip,

good weather, and rapid progress contributed to the successful completion of the survey... .'.....

Its results "will enable an

estimation of the biomass of

the-trawlable populations of

orange roughy and 10 major

by-catch species along the

Northern Chatham Rise,"

said Dr Robertson.

The team achieved an important condition of the programme, which was to catch

1000 tonnes green weight of

orange roughy in exchange

for the charter of the vessel.

"This, cruise points to the

possibility of joint commercial and research cruises for

research on otherwise inaccessible fish populations in

the deep offshore waters of

the New Zealand exclusive

economic zone," Dr Robertson said.

Trawl samples were taken

from an area 800km long and

up to 32km wide, from east

of the Chatham Islands to

east of Banks Peninsula, to

depths beyond 1000 metres.

During the cruise the fisheries research vessel James

Cook made a temperaturesalinity survey of the area to

complement the fishery data.

The results will be combined in a report which

should be completed in six

months.

CSO: 5200/9107

14
NEW ZEALAND

BRIEFS

OFFSHORE OIL LICENSE—Wellington (Press Assn)—An offshore petroleum

prospecting licence south of Dunedin has been granted to Husky Oil International Ltd and Stewart Petroleum Co Ltd. The licence is for a period of

five years starting this month and covers an area of 10,740 square kilometres.

The proposed work programme submitted by the partners includes a firm commitment to 800 kilometres of new seismic data to be incorporated into the

existing data. "A requirement to surrender the licence after two years, or

submit a work programme for the remaining three years is also included,"said

the Minister of Energy, Mr Birch. The licence was for prospecting, not for

drilling. Stewart Petroleum is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand Oil

and Gas which has interests in New Zealand. Husky Oil is part of the Nova

group of companies which includes Alberta Gas Chemicals Ltd. Alberta Gas is

Petrocorp's partner in the Waitara methanol Plant. Husky Oil itself is a

very large Canadian oil company which has operations, ranging from exploration

to refining, in many countries. [Text] [Auckland THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD

in English 4 Sep 82 Sec 3 p 3]

CSO: 5200/9107

- 15 -
INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS

CARICOM LOS CONFERENCE: JAMAICA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT

Kingston THE DAILY GLEANER in English 17 Sep 82 pp 1, 2

[Text] Jamaica is committed to the early entry into force of the recentlyadopted Convention on the Law of the Sea as "the best vehicle to secure a universally recognisable legal regime for all matters related to the Law of the

Sea." Jamaica is also committed to regional approaches through organisations

like CARICOM that will.secure the co-operation and collaboration of countries

in the region to achieve common goals.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, DR. NEVILLE

GALLIMORE, at the opening of the eighth meeting of CARICOM officials on the

Law of the Sea, at the Ministry, Knutsford Boulevard, yesterday.

Dr. Gallimore re-affirmed Jamaica's commitment to the Law of the Sea and said

that this country like its Caribbean neighbours was inextricably linked with

the sea in terms of history, culture, nutrition, and development. Jamaica, he

added, recognised "that the many bounties offered by the sea cannot be taken for

granted."

"We all are aware that this Convention will require the strong support of countries like ours if it is ever to be universally acceptable as we"all hope". The

text represented a compromise which met the needs of no one country or group of

countries but "made an earnest attempt to meet the needs of the entire international community to avoid disputes that may lead to threats to international

peace and security", he said.

Dr. Gallimore expressed Jamaica's "profound appreciation for the support of

all the CARICOM Member States participating in the Law of the Sea Conference for

Jamaica's candidature for the Authority". "The outcome is now history and a

triumph for the region as a whole but to you the member states of CARICOM, Jamaica is especially grateful".

Wishing the delegates success in their deliberations, he said he hoped that

their stay in Jamaica would be both productive and enjoyable. He was confident,

he said, that their decisions would be a step forward and "contribute to the

beneficial exploitation of the maritime resources of the region and the preservation and protection of the marine environment".

16
Dr. Barton Scotland, head of the Guyana delegation replied on behalf of the

participants. : He: said the Law of the Sea marked.the entrance into a new phase

of understanding: this was an opportunity to move together to greater appreciation of co-operation in terms of exploitation as well as the general development of CARICÖM.

Voicing the hope that the meeting would provide the forum to help the region

grasp the opportunity available under the Sea Law, he said: "We will put our

talents to task to make Our labour here productive".

The opening ceremony was chaired by Miss Denier Little, Assistant Legal Counsel.

CARICOM delegates attending the two-day meeting will discuss several topics including maritime jurisdiction in the Caribbean, environmental legislation in the

Caribbean, and a report on the United Nations environment CARICOM project.

Other issues include pollution, Marine scientific research, delimitation, and

fishing.

CSO: 5200/7501

17
INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS

BRIEFS

CARIBBEAN SHRIMP STUDY—GEORGETOWN, Mori., (Cana)—A JOINT PROJECT, involving

Guyana, Brazil, Suriname and Cayenne, will begin, this month, to identify patterns of migration and the growth rate of shrimp in the continental shelf off

the four countries' coasts, a Press report said. The "Chronicle" newspaper

quoted principal fisheries officer, Reuben Charles, as saying that the study,

to be assisted by the United States and the Food and Agricultural Organisation

(FAO), also hopes to estimate the quantity of shrimp in the continental shelf

and the degree of mobility of adult shrimp within the countries« fishing zones.

The study involves the placing of numbered plastic tags on shrimp caught which'

would be returned to the sea, after their size and the place where they were

caught are recorded. Trawler captains would be asked to turn in any tagged

shrimp found in their catch to the National Fisheries Departments in the four

countries, along with other data. Coordinators from the countries would meet

at three-month intervals to put together the data, Mr. Charles added. Part of

the cost of Guyana's contribution to the project would be covered by private

shrimping companies here, and lotteries would be held as an incentive to captains

participating in the data-collection for the study. [Port-of-Spain TRINIDAD

GUARDIAN in English 14 Sep 82 p 5]

CSO: 5200/75Ö1

18
SEYCHELLES

REPORTAGE ON FAO REGIONAL EEZ SEMINAR

To Coordinate Surveillance

Victoria NATION in English 20 Sep 82 pp 1, 2

[Text] A NiNE-NATION Food and

Agriculture Organisation seminar to co-ordinate the surveillance of exclusive economic zones iin the South-West

Indian Cceian and so reduce

costs opens today at the

Beau Vallon Bay Hotel.

The Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Reunion, Somalia and

Tanzania are expected to join

Seychelles in the seminar organised "jointly by the South

West Indian Ocean Fisheries

Module based in Seychelles

and the EEZ programme of

the FAO.

Since lasti November a project officer, Mr. D. Ardill, has

been attached to the Ministry

of Agriculture here to run the

Regional Fisheries Development and Management Project for the South-West Indian

Ocean.

The emphasis of the seminar will be mainly on the tuna

fishing as this is of regional!

interest. Some 37 to 40 per

cent of the tunia fished in the

Indian Ocean is in the exclusive ecenomic zones of the

taking part in the meeting

countries.

Seychelles is hosting the

seminar as it has a wide experience in this field already

It was the first country of the

region, to sett up an EEZ Control Centre and to licence foreign fishing vessels effectively. This experience is expected to raise considerable interest' among the foreign participants of the seminar.

The first seminar of this kind was held in Rome in April 1980. Since then,

other regional seminars have been held in Jakarta, Indonesia in late 1981 and

in Suva, Fiji earlier this year. This will therefore be the third regional

seminar of its type.

Seychelles' delegation will include Chief Justice Earle Seaton, Mr. Francois

Jackson of the EEZ Control Centre, Mr. Philippe Michaud of the Ministry of

Planning and Develpment, Mr. Joel Nageon of the Fisheries Division.

19
Other outside participants will be a biologist specialised in tuna fishing,

a legal expert, a consultant on monitoring and surveillance and various FAO

officials.

Common Objectives

Victoria NATION in English 21 Sep 82 pp 1, 2

[Text] THE Planning and Development Minister yesterday called for

"a spirit of co-operation and collaboration in working towards

common objectives," as he opened a week-long regional seminar at Beau Valilon Bay Hotel on the monitoring, control

and smrveil'ance of exclusive economic zones.

Delegates from Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Reunion

and Tanzania have joined Seychelles for the Food and Agriculture Organisation seminar.

SUITABLE

Commenting on how suitable Seychelles was for hosting such a rneeang, Dr. Maxime Ferrari, the Minister of

Planning and Development,

pointed out that although fishing accounted for only four

per cent of the gross domestic

product, the Seychellois were

certainly among the world's

leading fish consumers. Each

Seychellois ate about 85 kilos

of fish a year, well above the

minimum requirements for

protein.

Yet these figures, Minister

Ferrari told the 30 delegates,

represented what was. for

Seyche'les, the tip of an iceberg.

The country, the Minister

claimed, . had the richest

known tuna fishing grounds

in the Indian Ocean.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

"In the last two years," he

said. "Seychelles has acquired a unique experience in the

management of a large EEZ

by a small, insular nation.

"The balance sheet of this

experience is positive in every

respect."

The revenue from licences

paid by foreign fleets had given a handsome profit over

expenditure for surveillance

and Seychelles had obtained

considerable knowledge of the

seascnal distribution, abundance and harvesting of

pelagic fish.

"However great an effort is

nade by an individual country,

t is bound to be considerably

., iluted if its neighbours do

not Follow suit," Dr. Ferrari

cautioned.

RAPID DEVELOPMENT

He hoped that through the

seminar's discussions and

presentations, other countries

of the region would avoid the

delays and incertainties the

Republic had gone through

and would carry out a rapid

development in the management of their economic zones.

Minister Ferrari also hoped

20
that the discussions would

lead to future co-operation,

not only in 1he exchange of

scientific information, but even

in surveillance. By reducing

the costs of individual countries here, revenue would be

increased.

"The fishermen in particular stand to gain from such

co-operation as higher mobility of fishing fleets will reduce wasted 'time and proper

'management will ensure an

^.adequate sharing of resour-

! ces.'" :..

Present eü the opening were

Seychelles People's Progressive Front Secretary-General

\Guy Smcm^ «B9 »gffculture

; Minister Karl St. Ange. ■■

! The seminar is being directed by a team of officials from

'the FAO headquarters in

JRome, led by Mr. Christopher

jNewton.

Fishing Resources

Victoria NATION in English 22 Sep 82 pp 1, 2

[Text] A 25-millicn tonne deficit in

world fish supplies predicted'

for the year 2000 will mean a

great opportunity for developing countries to earn more fo>-

reign exchange through increased exports.

This forecast from Food

and Agricultural Organisation

senior planning officer Christopher Newton, was delivered

on Monday to the regional

seminar here on exclusive

economic zones.

Some 30 delegates from

Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Reunion, Tanzania and

Seychelles are taking part in

the FAO workshop, discussing the effective monitoring,

control and surveillance of

. FF2S

The meeting will also look

into possible co-operation

between South-West Indian

Ocean spates in this field.

Speaking after the official

opening of the seminar on

Monday morning, Mr. Newton,

the meeting's director, explained that with the adoption of

the Convention on the Law of

the Sea, many coastal sta;es

were studying how to effectively control the increased

fisheries resources provided

*by their 200-mile EEZs.

"In addition to the acute

problems associated with

such control, coastal states

now have the opportunity to

establish their respective policies for the use to which

such resources are to be put,"

Mr. Newton said.

No longer was it necessary,

he pointed out, for most coastal states to share at a disadvantage in the resources outside their former territorial

limits of 12 miles by competing wräh technologically advanced fishing vessels from

developed countries. The impact of high fuel prices had

made this even more apparent.

Now that the sophisticated

distant-water fishing fleets of

21
; the developed nations were

having to cut down on their

activities, developing coastal

countries could be expected

'to gradually take over the

supply of fish to the North.

> ■■ Mr. Newton added that the

FAO's forecasts of a 25-million tonne deficit in fish supplies by the year 2000 could

only heralid significant increases in prices for fish. It

also meant an increase in the

dependence of developed nations on fish from other nations.

'WhileT such prospects look

good for the future," Mr. Newton said, "it does mean that

fish for local consumption will

have to compete in price with

the export markets for fish,

and this will place a burden

on local people in the cost of

their protein. It means earning more foreign currency but

eating more chicken and less

fish."

Turning to the seminar subject of the monitoring, control and surveillance of EEZs,

Mr. Newton said that the

meeting was starting something" new, whose solutions

could only be found through

experience.

The purpose of the seminar is Ho identify the issues

facing the coastal states of

the south-west Indian Ocean,

share experiences, and study

the achievements and findings

of other regions.

"We are fortunate in that

Seychelles has already adressed this problem and we

have much to learn from

them," Mr. Newton said.

CSO: 5200/2

22
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES AIRED AT NORDIC FISHING CONFERENCE

Oslo AFTENPOSTEN in Noweegian 27 Aug 82 ppl2

[Text] Helsingor, 26 August. There were several sharp clashes among the

participating countries when the Nordic Fishing Conference was concluded in

Helsingor Thursday. Norwegian fishermen and their organizations emphasized

the necessity for respect for regulations, and their desire to get rid of the

EEC duty. The Danes, for their part, were strongly opposed to rigorous

Norwegian fishing regulations, pointing out that fishing operations in the

two countries are quite different.

"Our fishing is based on profit, the sale of fish is not regulated, and we

receive little or no support from the government," said Anker Gaihede,

chairman of the Danish Fishing Union. "Norwegian fishing is thoroughly

regulated and therefore receives enormous subsidies. Besides this, you

have a first-class, modern fishing fleet that operates very effectively.

The Danes do not have this. Therefore it is completely unrealistic for us to

accept the Norwegian demand for regulations—whether it is a matter of common

fishing or the sale of fish."

Gaihede was also referring to the Norwegians when he said that it is easy to

carry out regulations when one is not touched oneself.

But Per A. Saevik of the Fishing Boat Owners Union argued against his Danish

colleague by saying that the reason regulation is now having such great consequences is that it was started too late. Regulations are important, so

important even that Nordic cooperation is needed for their enforcement.

At the conclusion, there was a clash between Director Johan Muri of Norway's

National Fresh Fish Sale Union and the Danish director of Denmark's Fishing

Industry and Export Union, Poul Torring. Muri emphasized that in Norway there

is free import of fish, and we have also given public support to imported

fish. But in 1981 we had to pay 74 million in duty on a sale of 1.7 billion

kroner. Now we, too, should get a satisfactory agreement with the EEC

countries. The Faeroe Islands and Iceland have managed this. And in order

to attain it, we must have Danish help.

23
Poul Torring replied that free trade among nations was very desirable. But

then Norwegian fishermen may also have the opportunity to land fish in

Denmark—and not be stopped by domestic restrictions. "Freedom is precisely

what we desire when it is a matter of the sale of fish," he said.

Danish fishermen are often accused of taking too many young fish in their

own fishing zones. The Danish fishermen understand the problem, and wish to

contribute to its solution. In a note, Laurits Tornaes, the chairman of

Denmark's Sea Fishing Union, said the following:

"Twelve hundred miles of economic zones have been established, and these

areas are strictly regulated. According to this, we must fish in our own

zone. This is not what we want. Why not negotiate other arrangements so

that we can take in our quota in other countries' zones where the fishing is

better? Then the small fish in our zone can be left alone—and the stock

will be increased.

From the French point of view, overcapacity in international fishing was

emphasized. Now is the time to reduce capacity, to reduce fishing fleets

so that there will be a better connection between intake and outlay*

The next Nordic Fishing Conference will be held in Norway in 2 years.

9124

CSO: 5200/2113

24
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

NORWAY, DENMARK IN DISPUTE OVER CAPELIN FISHING OFF SVALBARD

Oslo AFTENPOSTEN in Norwegian 27 Aug 82 p 12

iArticle by Alf G, Andersen]

[Text] Helsingor, 26 August*--There seem to be difficulties in reaching an

agreement on the DanishrJJorwegian capelin conflict. The Norwegian fishing

authorities look so seriously upon Danish capelin fishing that they have sent

a note to the EEC on the subject. But the Danes minimize the whole affair

and say that Norway is overreacting. The Danish minister of fisheries,

Karl Hjortnaes, said to AFTENPOSTEN that there is little he can do at present.

At any rate, he has no authority to recall the Danish fishermen who have

fallen into a desperate situation after having been chased away from many

other fishing banks.

Fisheries Minister Hjortnaes is also afraid that Danish capelin fishing may

have political consequences. It is well known that the EEC countries are

attempting to find a common basis for a joint fishing agreements—and that

Norway's help is necessary to bring about such an agreement,

"I have informed the Danish fishermen of the possibility that their actions

may make it more difficult to reach a negotiated agreement. In this case,

Danish capelin fishing will suffer. Also, as far as the Danes are concerned,

the fishing operation is very small and probably will die by itself because

it does not pay," Hjortnaes said.

The information secretary of the fisheries department, Trond Wold, reports

in the meantime that the department has confirmed that four Danish seine

boats, possibly as many as six, will be fishing capelin off Svalbard, and

that a transport ship will be sent north.

Fisheries Minister Hjortnaes made his position known at the Nordic Fishing

Conference by declaring publicly that he has little faith in the regulation

of fishing. As is well known, regulation forms the key concept in Norwegian

fishing policy. The cabinet minister believs that fish stocks will not

süffer, and he points out that marine biologists admit that they often operate

with incorrect data. To the question of whether Norwegian fishing organizations can look forward to reduced EEC duty on Norwegian fishing products,

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Hjortnaes answers that if this does come about, it must go in as part of the

trade agreement. "Obviously I will not rule out the possibility of such an

agreement," Hjortnaes said to AFTENPOSTEN.

In the note from the Norwegian fishing authorities to the EEC commission,

it was pointed out that the Norwegian understanding was,that the EEC's quota

rights in the Norwegian economic zone and in the fishing area around Jan Mayen

had been made contingent upon the EEC countries not fishing in the forbidden

areas around Svalbard.

Since Danish ships have now begun capelin fishing around Svalbard, there

has been a clear violation of these assumptions, for fishing boats from EEC

countries have not fished capelin in this zone before, the note points out.

9124

CSO: 5200/2113

26
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

EC COMMISSIONER WARNS GREENLAND ON BLOCKING FISHING BY FRG

Copenhagen BERLINGSKE TIDENDE in Danish 27 Sep 82 Sect II p 3

[Text] If Greenland continues to oppose the rights of other EC countries

to fish in Greenland waters, this will have an adverse effect on the final

position of the EC Council of Ministers on the relationship between

Greenland and the EC, EC Commissioner Richard Burke said at a meeting

with the Greenland parliament last weekend.

Richard Burke is in Greenland to prepare a report which will form the

basis for the recommendations of the EC Commission on the question of

Greenland's forthcoming withdrawal from the EC. He says that Greenland's

fish exports to the EC may become jeopardized. The Greenland parliament

wants to obtain a so-called OCT-arrangement, which concerns overseas

countries and territories. It affords duty-free access for their products when exported to the EC area.

The OCT-arrangement, however, will not necessarily involve such duty-free

access for Greenland fish—and this is the vital -issue for Greenland»

During his meeting with the Greenland parliament, Richard Burke did not

conceal the fact that Greenland's economic development will become very

difficult outside the EC—although he promised to do what he can "on the

difficult road which we have chosen to take." It will be no bed of

roses, he added.

Prior to his arrival in Greenland last Wednesday, Richard Burke had

visited a number of capitals of the EC countries for the very purpose of

discussing Greenland's forthcoming withdrawal. The reactions to Greenland's withdrawal differ widely—ranging from almost enthusiastic acceptance to a certain amount of opposition. This is not least due to Greenland's rejection of other countries' in their opinion legitimate demands

for fishing quotas off Greenland.

In that connection, Richard Burke pointed to the dispute with respect to

the West German cod fishing, the outcome of which was that West Germany

got a'quota of 5,000 off West Greenland, one of the conditions being that

the total catch will not exceed the quota of a total of 62,000 tons which

Greenland says is'the justifiable quota.

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The EC Commission has proposed a total quota of 75,000 tons for the

present year, which will probably be finally fixedat the meeting of

the Council of Ministers of Fisheries on k October, and Richard Burke

made it clear that the views of the EC Commission have not changed.

However, at the opening of the Greenland parliament last Friday, the

chairman of the local Greenland government, Jonathan Motzfeldt, demanded

that the Danish government veto any decisions seeking to encroach upon^

essential Greenland interests—and such encroachment will, in the opinion

of the Greenland government, occur if the cod quota off West Greenland

is put any higher than 62,000 tons.

7262

CSO: 5200/2501 END

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