An Act to give effect to the International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean, signed at Tokyo, May 9, 1952, and for other purposes
PL 83-579 (S.3713), enacted 08/12/1954

698 
PUBLIC LAW 579-AUG. 12, 1954 
[68 STAT, 
August 12, 1954 
[S. 3713] 
Public Law 579 
CHAPTER 669 
AN ACT 
To give effect to the International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the 
North Pacific Ocean, signed at Toltyo, May 9, 1952, and for other purposes. 
North P a c i f i c 
Fisheries Act of 
1954. 
Definitions* 
TIAS 2786. 
U. S. 
sioners. 
Advis ory 
mittee. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may 
be cited as the "North Pacific Fisheries Act of 1954". 
SEC. 2. As used in this Act, the term— 
(a) "Convention" means the International Convention for the High 
Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean with a protocol relating 
thereto signed at Tokyo, May 9,1952; 
(b) "Commission" means the International North Pacific Fisheries 
Commission provided for by article I I of the Convention; 
(c) "United States Section" means the United States Commissioners 
to the Commission; 
(d) "Convention area" means all waters, other than territorial 
waters, of the North Pacific Ocean which for the purposes of this Act 
shall include the adjacent seas; 
(e) "Fishing vessel" means any vessel engaged in catching fish or 
processing or transporting fish loaded on the high seas, or any vessel 
outfitted for such activities. 
c ommis- 
gEc. 3. The United States shall be represented on the Commission by 
not more than four Commissioners to be appointed by the President, 
to serve as such during his pleasure, and to receive no compensation for 
their services as Commissioners. Of such Commissioners— 
(a) one shall be an official of the United States Government; 
and 
(b) each of the others shall be a person residing in a State or 
Territory, the residents of which maintain a substantial fishery in 
the Convention area. 
SEC. 4. (a) The United States Section shall appoint an advisory com-
mittee composed of not less than five nor more than twenty members 
and shall fix the terms of office thereof, such members to be selected 
both from the various groups participating in the fisheries covered by 
the Convention and from the fishery agencies of the States or Terri-
tories, the residents of which maintain a substantial fishery in the 
Convention area. 
(b) Any or all members of the advisory committee may attend all 
sessions of the Commission except executive sessions. 
(c) The advisory committee shall be invited to all nonexecutive 
meetings of the United States Section and at such meetings shall be 
granted opportunity to examine and to be heard on all proposed pro-
grams of study and investigation, reports, and recommendations of 
the United States Section. 
(d) The members of the advisory committee shall receive no com-
pensation for their services as such members. On approval by the 
United States Section, not more than three members oi the committee, 
designated by the committee, may be paid for transportation expenses 
and per diem incident to attendance at meetings of the Commission or 
of the United States Section. 
SEC. 5. Service of any individual appointed from private life as a 
United States Commissioner pursuant to section 3, or as a member of 
the Advisory Committee appointed pursuant to section 4 (a), shall 
not be considered as service or employment bringing such individual 
within the provisions of sections 281, 283, 284, and 434 of title 18 
of the United States Code, and section 190 of the Revised Statutes (5 
U. S. C. 99), except insofar as such provisions of law may prohibit 
any such individual from acting or receiving compensation in respect 
Nonapplicability 
of certain statutes. 
62 Stat. 697 
68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 579-AUG- 12, 1954 
to matters directly relating to the Convention, this Act, or regulations 
issued pursuant to this Act. 
SEC. 6. The President is authorized to (a) accept or reject, on behalf 
of the United States, recommendations made by the Commission in 
accordance with the provisions of article III, section 1, of the Conven-
tion, and recommendations made by the Commission in pursuance of 
the provisions of the Protocol to the Convention; and (b) act for the 
United States in the selection of persons by the contracting parties to 
compose the special committee provided by the Protocol to the 
Convention. 
SEC. 7. Any agency of the Federal Government is authorized, upon 
request of the Commission, to cooperate in the conduct of scientific 
and other programs, and to furnish, on a reimbursable basis, facilities 
and personnel for the purpose of assisting the Commission in carrying 
out its duties under the Convention. 
Such agency may accept reim-
bursement from the Commission. 
SEC. 8. (a) The provisions of the Convention and this Act relating 
to abstention from fishing in certain areas by the nationals and vessels 
of one or more of the contracting parties shall be enforced by the 
Coast Guard in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service and 
the l^ureau of Customs. 
(b) For such purposes any Coast Guard officer, any officer of the 
P'ish and Wildlife Service, or any other person authorized to enforce 
the provisions of the Convention and this Act referred to in sub-
section (a) of this section may go on board any fishing vessel of 
Canada or Japan found in waters in which Canada or Japan has 
agreed by or under the Convention to abstain from exploitation of one 
or more stocks of fish, and, when he has reasonable cause to believe 
that such vessel is engaging in operations in violation of the provisions 
of the Convention, may, without warrant or other process, inspect 
the equipment, books, documents, and other articles on such vessel 
and question the persons on board, and for these purposes may hail and 
stop such vessel, and use all necessary force to compel compliance. 
(c) Whenever any such officer has reasonable cause to believe that 
any person on any fishing vessel of Canada or Japan is violating, or 
immediately prior to the boarding of such vessel was violating, the 
provisions of the Convention referred to in subsection (a) of this 
section, such person, and any such vessel employed in such violation 
shall be detained and shall be delivered as promptly as practicable to 
an authorized official of the nation to which they belong in accordance 
with the provisions of the Convention. 
(d) Any officer of the Coast Guard, any officer of the Fish and 
Wildlife Service, or any other person authorized to enforce the pro-
visions of the Convention and this Act referred to in subsection (a) 
of this section, may be directed to attend as witnesses and to produce 
such available records and files or duly certified copies thereof as may 
be necessary to the prosecution in Canada or Japan of any violation of 
the provisions of the Convention or any Canadian or Japanese law 
for the enforcement thereof when requested by the appropriate author-
ities of Canada or Japan respectively. 
SEC. 9. The Secretary of the Interior may designate officers of the 
States and Territories of the United States to enforce the provisions of 
the Convention and this Act in so far as they pertain to fishing vessels 
of the United States and the persons on board such vessels. 
SEC. 10. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person or fishing vessel 
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to engage in the catch-
ing of any stock of fish from which the United States may agree to 
abstain in the waters specified for such abstention as set forth in the 
Annex to the Convention, or to load, process, possess, or transport any 
Presidential au-
thority* 
Agency co-opera-
tion. 
Reimburse meni:, 
Restricted fish-
ing areas. 
Enforcement. 
U. S. 
f i s h i n g 
vessels, etc. 
Unlawful a c t B < 
700 
PUBLIC LAW-579-AUG. 12, 1954 
[68 STAT. 
such fish or fish products processed therefrom in the said waters, or to 
land in a port of the United States any fish so caught, loaded, pos-
sessed, or transported or any fish products processed therefrom. 
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person or fishing vessel subject to 
the jurisdiction of the United States knowingly to load, process, 
possess, or transport any fish specified in subsection (a) of this section 
or any fish products processed therefrom in the territorial waters of 
the United States or in any waters of the Convention area in addition 
to those specified in subsection (a) of this section, or to land in a port 
of the United States any such fish or fish products. 
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person or fishing vessel subject to 
the jurisdiction of the United States knowingly to load, process, pos-
sess, or transport in the Convention area or in the territorial waters 
of the United States any fish taken by a national of Canada or Japan 
from a stock of fish from which Canada or Japan respectively has 
agreed to abstain as set forth in the Annex to the Convention or any 
fish products processed therefrom, or to land such fish or fish products 
in a port of the United States. 
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction 
of the United States to aid or abet in the taking of fish by a national or 
fishing vessel of Canada or of Japan from a stock of fish from which 
Canada or Japan has respectively agreed to abstain as set forth in the 
Annex of the Convention. 
(e) It shall be unlawful for the master or owner or any person in 
charge of any fishing vessel of the United States to refuse to permit 
the duly authorized officials of the United States, Canada, or Japan 
to board such vessel or inspect its equipment, books, documents, or 
other articles or question the persons on board in accordance with the 
provision of the Convention, or to obstruct such officials in the execu-
tion of such duties. 
Penalties. 
gj,^, ^ 
^g^^ ^^j 
persou violating subsection (a), (b), or (c) of 
section 10 of this Act shall upon conviction be fined not more than 
$10,000, and for such offense the court may order forfeited, in whole 
or in part, the fish concerned in the offense, or the fishing gear involved 
in such fishing, or both, or the monetary value thereof. 
Such forfeited 
fish or fishing gear shall be disposed of in accordance with the direc-
tion of the court. 
(b) Any person violating subsection (d) of section 10 of this Act 
shall upon conviction be fined not more than $10,000. 
(c) Any person violating subsection (e) of section 10 of this Act 
shall upon conviction be fined not more than $10,000 and be imprisoned 
for not more than one year or both, and for such offense the court may 
order forfeited, in whole or in part the fish and fishing gear on board 
the vessel, or both, or the monetary value thereof. 
Such fish and 
fishing gear shall be disposed of in accordance with the direction of 
the court. 
(d) Section 10 of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Act of 1950 (64 
Stat. 1067; 16 U. S. C. 989) shall not apply to violations for which 
penalties are provided in this section. 
st^tutJ*s! ^'^ ^^^^ 
SEC. 12. For the effective execution of this Act, sections 7 (a) and 
(b), 9, 10, and 11 of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Act of 1950 
(64 Stat. 1067; 16 U. S. C. 986, 988, 989, 990) shall be deemed to be 
incorporated herein in haec verba provided that regulations author-
ized by section 7 (a) of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Act shall be 
adopted by the Secretary of the Interior on consultation with the 
United States Section and shall apply only to stocks of fish in the 
Convention area contiguous to the territorial waters of Alaska. 
64 Stat. 1070. 
68 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 580-AUG. 13, 1954 
701 
SEC. 13. (a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated from 
time to time such sums as may be necessary for carrying out the pur-
poses and provisions of the Convention and this Act, including— 
(1) necessary travel expenses of the United States Commis-
sioners without regard to the Standardized Government Travel 
Regulations, as amended, the Travel Expense Act of 1949, or 
section 10 of the Act of March 3,1933 (U. S. C, title 5, sec. 73b); 
and 
(2) the United States share of the joint expenses of the Com-
mission ; provided that the Commissioners shall not, with respect 
to commitments concerning the United States share of the joint 
expenses of the Commission, be subject to the provisions of section 
262 (b) of title 22 of the United States Code insofar as they limit 
the authority of United States representatives to international 
organizations with respect to such commitments. 
(b) Such funds as shall be made available to the Secretary of the 
Interior for research and related activities shall be expended to carry 
out the program of the Commission in accordance with recommenda-
tions of the United States Section. 
SEC. 14. If any provision of this Act or the application of such pro-
vision to anv circumstances or persons shall be held invalid, the 
validity of the remainder of the Act and the applicability of such 
provision to other circumstances or persons shall not be affected 
thereby. 
Approved August 12, 1954. 
Appropriations. 
63 Stat. 166. 
5 u s e 83 5 note. 
60 Stat. 808. 
66 Stat. 550. 
22 u s e 262b. 
Separability. 
Public Law 580 
CHAPTER 725 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
August 13, 1954 
To repeal certain World War II laws relating to return of fishing vessels, and 
[s. J. Res. 67]_ 
for other purposes. 
Resolved 
hy the Senate 
and House of Representatives 
of 
the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled^ That, effective upon 
the enactment of this joint resolution, the following statutory pro-
visions are repealed: 
(a) The Act of April 29, 1943, entitled "An Act to authorize the 
return to private ownership of certain vessels formerly used or suitable 
for use in the fisheries or industries related thereto", as amended 
(Public Law 44, Seventy-eighth Congress, 57 Stat. 69; Public Law 
305, Seventy-eighth Congress, 58 Stat. 223; Public Law 716, Seventy-
ninth Congress, 60 Stat. 976; 50 War App. U. S. C. 1301-1305). 
(b) The Act of August 10, 1946, entitled "An Act relating to the 
sale by the United States of surplus vessels suitable for 
fishing" 
(Public Law 717, Seventy-ninth Congress, 60 Stat. 977; 50 War App. 
U. S. C. 1306-1308). 
Notwithstanding the enactment of this joint 
resolution, the aforesaid statutory provisions shall apply to any 
vessels which prior to such enactment have been declared available 
for return to former owners by notice to the Department of Commerce 
under the Act of April 29, 1943, as amended, or determined to be 
surplus for sale to former owners of fishing vessels in accordance with 
the Act of August 10,1946 (Public Law 717, Seventy-ninth Congress). 
Any other vessels which, but for the enactment of this joint resolution, 
would be disposed of in accordance with any of the aforesaid statutory 
provisions, shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of 
other existing laws. 
Approved August 13, 1954. 
Repeals^ 
Fishing vessels. 
Return to private 
ownership. 
Sale. 
Effectivity.