CELEX: 51979PC0641
Language: en
Date: 1979-11-27 00:00:00
Title: Recommendation for a COUNCIL DECISION authorizing the Commission to negotiate on behalf of the Community for the establishment of an international Convention for the conservation of salmon stocks occurring in the North Atlantic Ocean (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (79) 641
Vol. 1979/0215
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
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In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                 COM(79)641 final
                                                 Brussels , 27 November 1979
                          Recommendation for a
                            COUNCIL DECISION
authorizing the Commission to negotiate on behalf of the Community
for the establishment of an international Convention for the con­
servation of salmon stocks occurring in the North Atlantic Ocean
              ( submitted to the Council by the Commission )
C0M(79 ) 641 final                            c-   r
                                   jnTH             ^       j
                                                          ,!
 ---pagebreak---                    EXPUM^Y MEMORANDUM
The Atlantic Salmon migrated yearly from rivers in North America and
Europe io the waters of West Greenland, and the Norwegian Sea r returning
to its native river after a period of two or more years . This extensive
migration lies "behind the efforts which have "been made to arrive at
regulation of the fishing of this species through international
                                           .....    .                *
arrangements since the late nineteen-sixties . Coastal states in whose
rivers salmon stocks originate have , in order to reduce the extent of'-' ,
predation on these stocks , "been concerned to ensure both the prohibition
of salmon fishing "beyond areas of fisheries jurisdiction and the limitation ,
of catches of salmon taken within such areas .
The International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries ( 1949 )
provided the forum for the first discussions on this question . In 1970
all Contracting Parties to the Convention except Denmark , the Federal
Republic of Germany and Norway agreed to take appropriate action to
ensure that fishing for salmon "be prohibited in waters outside national
fishing limits (then extending to twelve miles at most from- baselines ) . '
Two years later , the Contracting Parties agreed upon a Regulation under which
fishing for salmon "by non-Greenlanders in Greenland waters would "be
eliminated "by 31 December 1975 » and fishing by Greenland fishermen would
take place only within national fisheries limits and be limited to the
average level of yearly catches from 19^4 "to 1971 . Following the
withdrawal of the Member States of the Community from ICNAF on 31 December
            •                            *        ,     ••    ■• -
1978 , however, this Regulation ceased to -be binding uporj Denmark.
When it became clear during 1978 that arrangements made under ICNAF would
lapse , the United States and Canadian authorities expressed their concern
to the Community , which had assumed competence for the management of
fisheries resource^ in 1976, that cooperation with respeot to the
management of salmon fishing in Greenland waters should continue .
The Canadian authorities made it clear during the negotiation of the
EEC-Canada fisheries agreement that conclusion of the agreement would be
conditional upon an undertaking by the Community to limit catches of
salmon in Greenland waters for the duration of the agreement to , the
level established under the ICNAF arrangements of. 1972. This undertaking
was given for the years 1978 and 1979 in an exchange of letters between
the Community and Canada earlier this year .
 ---pagebreak--- Meanwhile the United States authorities informed the Community
that in their view arrangements for the conservation of Atlantic
salmon should he the subject of multilateral rather than "bilateral
agreement , and to this end they presented in March 1979 proposals
for an international Convention to cover the North Atlantic Ocean
and its adjacent seas .     As well as the establishment of an
institutional framework for international cooperation on this matter ,
the United States * proposals would involve the, adoption of specific
conservation measures , such as a ban on fishing for salmon beyond
12 miles from baselines and the limitation of catches within the
12-mile zone either to the annual level obtaining during the period
1976 to 1978 or to the annual level permitted under ICNAF arrangement s .
The Community position
The Community has already accepted within the framework of its fisheries
agreements with the United States and Canada the general principles
formulated at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the
Sea with regard to the conservation and management of anadromous
stocks ( see Article 66 of Informal Composite Negotiating Text ,
Revision 1 , 28.4 . 1979) « This implies inter alia acceptance that coastal
states in whose rivers anadromous stocks originate have a primary interest
in and responsibility for the conservation of such stocks , that states
into whose waters these stocks migrate shall cooperate with the
" originating" state in matters of conservation , and that conservation
measures with respect to these stocks may be implemented through
regional organisations where appropriate® Article VIII of the EEC-Canada
fisheries agreement also declares that the parties will continue to work
together for the establishment of permanent multilateral arrangements
reflecting their acceptance of the primary interest of "originating"
coastal states in the conservation of anadromous stocks .
The acceptance by the Community of these guiding principles means in the
Commission 's view that the Community should accept the invitation of the
United States to participate in negotiations for an international
Convention on Atlantic Salmon. It is clear , however , that the adoption
of concrete conservation measures tinder such a Convention will give rise
to significant conflicts of interest between the various communities
exploiting these stocks within the Community . In these circumstances , the
Commission believes that progress can best be assured in any future
negotiations if questions of form , related to the nature of the
 ---pagebreak---      organisation to be set up under a future Convention , are clearly-
     separated from , and settled before , questions of content , such as the
     nature of the conservation measures to be adopted 7vider the Convention .
 8.  As a first step the parties to the proposed Convention should establish .
     an organisation which will provide for the obtaining of scientific
     advice on salmon stocks , and for the taking, of action based on such advice .
     Some of the more specific proposals made in the United States draft in effect
     prejudge the nature of the advice which will be obtained through the *
     mechanism established under the Convention. The Community should rather
      suspend its judgement , in order that , conservation measures may be
     adopted after a full examination of the need for them arid of their effects .
     However , in order to ensure proper conservation of salmon stocks pending
      the effective operation of the organization established by the Convention ,-
      it would in the Commission's view be necessary to negotiate interim
      arrangements in parallel with negotiation of the Convention itself , which
      would apply , for example , for one year after the entry into force of the
      Convention , or two years after its signature , whichever was the shorter
      period .         '   '  -                                             /
 9.   Another fundamental principle which should be embodied in any future
      Convention on Salmon is that of equity of obligation between the Contracting 1
      Parties . While it is clear that the establishment of a Convention will
      lead to the imposition of constraints on commercial fishing of salmon in
      maritime waters , such sacrifices should be equally balanced between the ..
      "originating" states and states into whose waters the salmon migrate . It
      would not be acceptable to the Community for a single party or region to
      bear the burden of conservation on behalf of all other parties or regions .
      In order to respect the principle of equity of obligation , the bodies
      established under the Convention would also have to consider the levels
      of salmon fishing in internal waters .
10 .  The need for a balance of sacrifice between "originating" mid "host "
      states , and the fact that salmon stocks originating in some Member States
      migrate both to the North-east and North-west Atlantic , would require , in
      the Commission 's view, that the area covered, by the proposed Convention
      should be the entire North Atlantic ocean and i^s adjacent seas (with the
      exception of the Baltic Sea) and possibly connected internal waters .
       Decisions on conservation could , however , be taken iri two separate fisheries -
     - commissions covering the North–east and North-west Atlantic respectively ,
       membership of each commission being confined to those Contracting Parties ;
       having a
 ---pagebreak---                                   4
     direct interest in the stocks occurring in that region .
11 . Finally , the Commission believes that , in order to ensure a similar degree
     of sacrifice "by all parties , the point of reference for a future conser-'
     vation policy should be based upon the long-term rather than short-term
     history of each fishery . In this connection , the three-year reference
     period for catches proposed by the United States appears inadequate ; a
     longer reference period would better reflect the relative interests in the
     fishery .
12 . With these provisos the Commission believes that the Community should
     participate in the proposed multilateral negotiations and in the Convention
     itself . Such an approach would be the only one consistent with the
     Community 's views on the need for international cooperation for fisheries
     conservation . Moreover ,, failure to arrive at a multilateral settlement
     of this question will only increase the pressure upon the Community to
     reach a bilateral settlement .
13 . The Commission therefore recommends that the Council adopt the attached
     decision authorizing the Commission to negotiate for the establishment of
     an international Convention for the conservation of Salmon stocks occurring
     in the North Atlantic Ocean , to which the Community would be a .Contracting
     Party .                                                          '
 ---pagebreak---                             Recommendation for a
                 Council Decision authorizing the Commission to
                 negotiate on "behalf of the Community for the
                 establishment of an international Convention
                 for the conservation of salmon stocks occurring
                 in the North Atlantic Ocean .
TH3 COUNCII OP THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty • establishing the European Economic Community ;
Having regard to the Recommendation from the Commission ;                      T
Whereas on 3 November 1976 the Council adopted a set of resolutions .concerning
certain external and internal aspects of the common fisheries policy ;
Whereas the Government of the United States of America has proposed negotiations
with a view to concluding an international convention on salmon in the North
Atlantic Ocean ;                                         -
Whereas certain principles with respect to the conservation and management of
anadromous stocks have been elaborated at the Third United Nations Conference
on the Law of the Sea , including the principle of international cooperation to
this end ;                               ' -    '                       -    -
Whereas the European Economic Community agrees with these principles ;
Whereas the Community should therefore participate in negotiations with aiview
to establishing a sound framework for international cooperation in this matter ;
Whereas such international cooperation should aim to achieve a balance between
the interests of the various communitiea which exploit this resource within
the limits imposed by conservation requirements :
 ---pagebreak--- HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
                          Sole Article
The Commission is hereby authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Community ,
in accordance with the directives annexed hereto , for the establishment of
an international Convention for the conservation of salmon stocks occurring
in the North Atlantic Ocean .
The Commission shall conduct the negotiations assisted by representatives of
the Member States .
Done at Brussels                                           For the Council
                                                            The President .
 ---pagebreak--- The Community shall U. - . s : Parting point -. or these negotiations the
principles elaborated, at the Third UniteC Nations Ccnfere ce on the Law
of the Sea with respect to anadromous stocks (Article 66 of the Informal
Composite Negotiating Text / Revision 1 ).
Having regard to the principles referred to in paragraph 1 , the objective
of the Community shall "be a Convention which establishes a framework for
the adoption of conservation measures on a regular basis for salmon stocks
occurring in the North Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent seas , with the exception
of the Baltic Sea . This framework could comprise , inter alias
          ( 1 ) a scientific committee , responsible for the collection and
                analysis of data concerning all salmon fisheries within the
                Convention area , and for the formulation of management advice
                to the Commission ;
          ( 2) one or more fisheries commissions , which on the basis of
                available scientific advice shall propose to the Contracting
                Parties measures for the conservation and management of salmon
                stocks occurring in the Convention area in accordance with the
                normal procedures followed in international fisheries conventions ;
          ( 3) appropriate provisions for the collection and transmission by
                Contracting Parties of data concerning salmon fisheries
                within their area of fisheries jurisdiction ;
          (4) appropriate provisions for enforcement within the Convention area
                of conservation measures adopted under the Convention .
The organisation established under paragraph 2 above shall have as its goal
the application of appropriate conservation measures throughout the Convention
Area . It shall also ensure equality of sacrifice between the Contracting
Parties in any conservation measure which involves a limitation of salmon
catches , taking into account , inter alia :
          - the historical development of the fisheries in question ;
          – the economic dependence of certain communities upon the fisheries
              in question .
In addition to establishing the framework described above , the Convention should
provide for interim conservation measures to be laid down in a separate protocol
These measures would apply from the date of signature of the proposed Convention
Convention until such time as definitive measures could be decided upon by the
procedures established under the Convention , provided that such interim measures
would not remain in force beyond a fixed period to be negotiated beforehand with
the other parties .