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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(79)641
Vol.1979/0215

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(79)641 final
Brussels,27November1979
Recommendation fora
COUNCILDECISION
authorizing theCommissiontonegotiateonbehalfoftheCommunity
fortheestablishment ofaninternational Conventionforthecon­
servationofsalmonstocksoccurringintheNorthAtlanticOcean
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
C0M(79)641final c-r
jnTH ^j
,!

EXPUM^Y MEMORANDUM
TheAtlantic Salmon migrated yearly from rivers inNorth America and
Europe iothewaters ofWest Greenland ,andtheNorwegian Searreturning
toitsnative river after aperiod oftwoormore years .This extensive
migration lies "behind theefforts which have "been made toarrive at
regulation ofthefishing ofthis species through international
..... . *
arrangements since the late nineteen-sixties .Coastal states inwhose
rivers salmon stocks originate have ,inorder toreduce theextent of'-' ,
predation onthese stocks ,"been concerned toensure both theprohibition
ofsalmon fishing "beyond areas offisheries jurisdiction andthelimitation ,
ofcatches ofsalmon taken within such areas .
TheInternational Convention fortheNorthwest Atlantic Fisheries (1949 )
provided theforum forthefirst discussions onthis question .In1970
allContracting Parties totheConvention except Denmark ,theFederal
Republic ofGermany andNorway agreed totake appropriate action to
ensure that fishing forsalmon "beprohibited inwaters outside national
fishing limits (then extending totwelve miles atmost from -baselines ). '
Twoyears later ,theContracting Parties agreed upon aRegulation under which
fishing forsalmon "bynon-Greenlanders inGreenland waters would "be
eliminated "by31December 1975 »andfishing byGreenland fishermen would
take place only within national fisheries limits andbelimited tothe
average level ofyearly catches from 19^4 "to1971 .Following the
withdrawal oftheMember States oftheCommunity from ICNAF on31December
• * , •• ■• -
1978 ,however ,this Regulation ceased to -bebinding uporj Denmark .
When itbecame clear during 1978 that arrangements made under ICNAF would
lapse ,theUnited States andCanadian authorities expressed their concern
totheCommunity ,which hadassumed competence forthemanagement of
fisheries resource ^in1976 ,thatcooperation withrespeot tothe
management ofsalmon fishing inGreenland waters should continue .
TheCanadian authorities made itclear during thenegotiation ofthe
EEC-Canada fisheries agreement that conclusion oftheagreement would be
conditional upon anundertaking bytheCommunity tolimit catches of
salmon inGreenland waters fortheduration oftheagreement to,the
level established under theICNAF arrangements of .1972 .This undertaking
wasgiven fortheyears 1978 and1979 inanexchange ofletters between
theCommunity andCanada earlier this year .

Meanwhile theUnited States authorities informed theCommunity
that intheir view arrangements for theconservation ofAtlantic
salmon should hethe subject ofmultilateral rather than "bilateral
agreement ,andtothis endthey presented inMarch 1979 proposals
foraninternational Convention tocover theNorth Atlantic Ocean
and itsadjacent seas .Aswell asthe establishment ofan
institutional framework forinternational cooperation onthis matter ,
theUnited States *proposals would involve the ,adoption ofspecific
conservation measures ,such asabanonfishing forsalmon beyond
12miles from baselines and the limitation ofcatches within the
12-mile zone either totheannual level obtaining during theperiod
1976 to1978 ortotheannual level permitted under ICNAF arrangement s.
The Community position
TheCommunity hasalready accepted within theframework ofitsfisheries
agreements with theUnited States and Canada thegeneral principles
formulated atthe Third United Nations Conference onthe Law ofthe
Seawith regard totheconservation andmanagement ofanadromous
stocks (seeArticle 66ofInformal Composite Negotiating Text ,
Revision 1,28.4 .1979 )«This implies inter alia acceptance that coastal
states inwhose rivers anadromous stocks originate have aprimary interest
inandresponsibility fortheconservation ofsuch stocks ,that states
into whose waters these stocks migrate shall cooperate with the
"originating "state inmatters ofconservation ,andthat conservation
measures with respect tothese stocks maybeimplemented through
regional organisations where appropriate® Article VIII oftheEEC-Canada
fisheries agreement also declares that theparties will continue towork
together fortheestablishment ofpermanent multilateral arrangements
reflecting their acceptance oftheprimary interest of"originating "
coastal states inthe conservation ofanadromous stocks .
Theacceptance bytheCommunity ofthese guiding principles means inthe
Commission 'sview that theCommunity should accept theinvitation ofthe
United States toparticipate innegotiations foraninternational
Convention onAtlantic Salmon .Itisclear ,however ,that theadoption
ofconcrete conservation measures tinder such aConvention will give rise
tosignificant conflicts ofinterest between thevarious communities
exploiting these stocks within theCommunity .Inthese circumstances ,the
Commission believes that progress canbest beassured inanyfuture
negotiations ifquestions ofform ,related tothenature ofthe

organisation tobesetupunder afuture Convention ,areclearly -
separated from ,andsettled before ,questions ofcontent ,such asthe
nature oftheconservation measures tobeadopted 7vider theConvention .
8.Asafirst step theparties totheproposed Convention should establish .
anorganisation which will provide fortheobtaining ofscientific
advice onsalmon stocks ,andforthetaking ,ofaction based onsuch advice .
Some ofthemore specific proposals made intheUnited States draft ineffect
prejudge thenature oftheadvice which will beobtained through the *
mechanism established under theConvention .TheCommunity should rather
suspend itsjudgement ,inorder that ,conservation measures maybe
adopted after afull examination oftheneed forthem aridoftheir effects .
However ,inorder toensure proper conservation ofsalmon stocks pending
theeffective operation oftheorganization established bytheConvention ,-
itwould intheCommission 'sview benecessary tonegotiate interim
arrangements inparallel with negotiation oftheConvention itself ,which
would apply ,forexample ,foroneyear after theentry into force ofthe
Convention ,ortwoyears after itssignature ,whichever wastheshorter
period . ' ' - /
9.Another fundamental principle which should beembodied inanyfuture
Convention onSalmon isthat ofequity ofobligation between theContracting 1
Parties .While itisclear that theestablishment ofaConvention will
lead totheimposition ofconstraints oncommercial fishing ofsalmon in
maritime waters ,such sacrifices should beequally balanced between the ..
"originating "states and states into whose waters thesalmon migrate .It
would notbeacceptable totheCommunity forasingle party orregion to
bear theburden ofconservation onbehalf ofall other parties orregions .
Inorder torespect theprinciple ofequity ofobligation ,thebodies
established under the Convention would also have toconsider the levels
ofsalmon fishing ininternal waters .
10.Theneed forabalance ofsacrifice between "originating "mid "host "
states ,and thefact that salmon stocks originating insome Member States
migrate both totheNorth-east andNorth-west Atlantic ,would require ,in
theCommission 'sview ,that thearea covered ,bytheproposed Convention
should betheentire North Atlantic ocean andi^sadjacent seas (with the
exception oftheBaltic Sea)andpossibly connected internal waters .
Decisions onconservation could ,however ,betaken iritwoseparate fisheries -
-commissions covering theNorth –east andNorth-west Atlantic respectively ,
membership ofeach commission being confined tothose Contracting Parties ;
having a

4
direct interest inthestocks occurring inthat region .
11.Finally ,theCommission believes that ,inorder toensure asimilar degree
ofsacrifice "byallparties ,thepoint ofreference forafuture conser-'
vation policy should bebased upon thelong-term rather than short-term
history ofeach fishery .Inthis connection ,thethree-year reference
period forcatches proposed bytheUnited States appears inadequate ;a
longer reference period would better reflect the relative interests inthe
fishery .
 
12.With these provisos theCommission believes that theCommunity should
participate intheproposed multilateral negotiations and inthe Convention
itself .Such anapproach would betheonly oneconsistent with the
Community 'sviews ontheneed forinternational cooperation forfisheries
conservation .Moreover ,,failure toarrive atamultilateral settlement
ofthis question will only increase thepressure upon theCommunity to
reach abilateral settlement .
13.The Commission therefore recommends that the Council adopt theattached
decision authorizing theCommission tonegotiate fortheestablishment of
aninternational Convention fortheconservation ofSalmon stocks occurring
intheNorth Atlantic Ocean ,towhich theCommunity would bea .Contracting
Party . '

Recommendation for a
Council Decision authorizing the Commission to
negotiate on "behalf oftheCommunity forthe
establishment ofaninternational Convention
for theconservation ofsalmon stocks occurring
inthe North Atlantic Ocean .
TH3COUNCII OPTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty •establishing theEuropean Economic Community ;
Having regard totheRecommendation from theCommission ; T
Whereas on3November 1976 theCouncil adopted asetofresolutions .concerning
certain external andinternal aspects ofthecommon fisheries policy ;
Whereas theGovernment oftheUnited States ofAmerica hasproposed negotiations
with aview toconcluding aninternational convention onsalmon inthe North
Atlantic Ocean ; -
Whereas certain principles with respect totheconservation andmanagement of
anadromous stocks have been elaborated atthe Third United Nations Conference
ontheLawoftheSea ,including theprinciple ofinternational cooperation to
this end ; '- ' - -
Whereas theEuropean Economic Community agrees with these principles ;
Whereas theCommunity should therefore participate innegotiations with aiview
toestablishing asound framework forinternational cooperation inthis matter ;
Whereas such international cooperation should aim toachieve abalance between
theinterests ofthevarious communitiea which exploit this resource within
thelimits imposed byconservation requirements :

HAS DECIDED ASFOLLOWS :
Sole Article
TheCommission ishereby authorized tonegotiate onbehalf oftheCommunity ,
inaccordance with thedirectives annexed hereto ,fortheestablishment of
aninternational Convention fortheconservation ofsalmon stocks occurring
inthe North Atlantic Ocean .
The Commission shall conduct thenegotiations assisted byrepresentatives of
the Member States .
Done atBrussels For the Council
The President .

TheCommunity shall U. - .s:Parting point -.orthese negotiations the
principles elaborated ,attheThird UniteC Nations Ccnfere ceontheLaw
oftheSeawith respect toanadromous stocks (Article 66oftheInformal
Composite Negotiating Text /Revision 1).
Having regard totheprinciples referred toinparagraph 1,theobjective
oftheCommunity shall "beaConvention which establishes aframework for
theadoption ofconservation measures onaregular basis forsalmon stocks
occurring intheNorth Atlantic Ocean anditsadjacent seas ,with theexception
oftheBaltic Sea .This framework could comprise ,inter alias
(1)ascientific committee ,responsible forthecollection and
analysis ofdata concerning all salmon fisheries within the
Convention area ,andfortheformulation ofmanagement advice
tothe Commission ;
(2)oneormore fisheries commissions ,which onthebasis of
available scientific advice shall propose tothe Contracting
Parties measures fortheconservation andmanagement ofsalmon
stocks occurring intheConvention area inaccordance with the
normal procedures followed ininternational fisheries conventions ;
(3)appropriate provisions forthecollection andtransmission by
Contracting Parties ofdata concerning salmon fisheries
within their area offisheries jurisdiction ;
(4)appropriate provisions forenforcement within theConvention area
ofconservation measures adopted under theConvention .
Theorganisation established under paragraph 2above shall have asitsgoal
theapplication ofappropriate conservation measures throughout theConvention
Area .Itshall also ensure equality ofsacrifice between theContracting
Parties inany conservation measure which involves alimitation ofsalmon
catches ,taking into account ,inter alia :
-thehistorical development ofthefisheries inquestion ;
–theeconomic dependence ofcertain communities upon thefisheries
inquestion .
Inaddition toestablishing theframework described above ,theConvention should
provide forinterim conservation measures tobelaid down inaseparate protocol
These measures would apply from thedate ofsignature oftheproposed Convention
Convention until such time asdefinitive measures could bedecided upon bythe
procedures established under theConvention ,provided that such interim measures
would notremain inforce beyond afixed period tobenegotiated beforehand with
theother parties .