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The North Pacific Fishers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2017

Gordon Ireland
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Extract

When the time comes for the representatives of Japan to face those of China, Great Britain, Holland, Mexico and the United States across a table, to drive the best bargain they can for the continued national life of their island empire in the Pacific, one of the questions to be settled will be the control of the fisheries. Given the tremendous importance of fish in the food and economy of Japan, it will be a fundamental and vital question; and it would seem that for any thorough-going settlement the Soviet Union, with its shores on the Pacific, should be invited to participate in the discussion, if indeed by that time it has not actually gone to war with Japan. A brief review of the history of the problem may be of interest now and helpful to a better understanding later.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , July 1942 , pp. 400 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1942

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References

1 1 Moore, International Arbitrations (1898), 755; 1 Moore, Digest of International Law (1906), 890.

2 Gordon Ireland, Boundaries, Possessions and Conflicts in Central and North America and the Caribbean (1941), 290.

3 Callorhinus: Alascanus, from the Pribilof Islands, Kurilensis from the Robben (Tuleni) and Kurile Islands region, and Ursinus from the Komandorski Islands and along the Asiatic Coast.

4 U. S. Foreign Relations, 1888, II, 1842; this Journal, Vol. 1 (1907), p. 742.

5 This Journal, Supp., Vol. 6 (1912), p. 72.

6 See Gordon Ireland, Boundaries, Possessions and Conflicts in South America (1938), 256.

7 Tribunal Arbitral des Peckeries de Behring; Sentence, Declarations et Protocoles des Seances (Paris, 1894); 1 Moore, International Arbitrations, 935; 1 Moore, Digest of International Law, 910; this Journal, Vol. 6 (1912), p. 233.

8 Sherman Strong Hayden, The International Protection of Wild Life (New York, 1942), 132.

9 28 U. S. Statutes at Large, 1202. 30 U. S. Stat., 226, 1253, 1279; 36 U. S. Stat., 326; 1 Moore, Digest of International Law, 908, 923.

10 The Tenyu Maru (1910), 4 Alaska, 129.

11 U. S. Foreign Relations, 1902, Appendix I, 440; 1 Moore, Digest of International Law, 928.

12 37 U. S. Stat., 1539.

13 37 U. S. Stat., 1542; this Journal, Supp., Vol. 5 (1911), p. 267.

14 United States: Act of Aug. 24, 1912, 37 Stat., 499; Great Britain: Seal Fisheries (North Pacific) Act, 2–3 George V, Chap. 10, Aug. 7, 1912; Canada: Act, 3–4 George V, Chap. 48, June 6, 1913; Russia: After the Revolution of Nov. 7, 1917, the convention was possibly in abeyance as to Russia, but following recognition de jure by Great Britain Feb. 1, 1924, and by Japan Jan. 20, 1925, the Soviet Government by a Decree of Feb. 2, 1926, made the convention applicable to the Soviet Union. Sobr. Zak. i Rasp. S.S.S.R., 1926, I, p. 312 ff. (Reference by kindness of Dr. Timothy A. Taracouzio).

15 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, Dept. of Commerce, now Fish and Wildlife Service, Dept. of the Interior; Administrative reports (Washington). The seal herd hauling on the Russian Komandorski Islands was from 18,000 to 30,000 in 1911, and not over 50,000 in 1918; and that on the Japanese (formerly Russian) Kurile and Robben Islands was estimated at 6,557 in 1911, 9,041 in 1912, 6,455 in 1915, 12,140 in 1918, 28,226 in 1924, and 40,400 in 1928. They migrate south as far as Tsushima Island in Korea Strait at 34° 30' N. lat. and to the waters off Choshi on the Boso Peninsula in the Pacific at 35° 30' N. lat. Japan Man-choukuo Year Book, 1934 (Tokyo), 390.

16 U. S. Foreign Relations, 1926, II, 462–478.

17 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, surveys and charted reports.

18 35 U. S. Stat., 2000; this Journal, Supp., Vol. 2 (1908), p. 322.

19 U. S. Foreign Relations: 1918, 432–480; 1919, I, 219–239.

20 U. S. Foreign Relations: 1920,I, 387–390; 1921,I, 290–292, 294–295; 1922,I, 669–672.

21 Edward W. Allen, “Control of Fisheries Beyond Three Miles,” 14 Washington Law Review (1939), 91, 64 American Bar Association Reports (1939), 401; Gordon Ireland, “Marginal Seas Around the States,” 2 Louisiana Law Review (1940), 270; selected Papers and Reports, A. B. A. Section of Int. and Comp. Law, 46 (Chicago, 1940).

22 50 U. S. Stat., 1355; this Journal, Supp., Vol. 32 (1938), p. 65; 18 Oregon Law Review (1939), 88 at 105; 1 Hackworth, Digest of International Law (1940), 801. Cf. Dow v. Ickes (1941), 123 F. (2d) 909.

23 1 Treaties of the U. S. (1910), 631.

24 U. S. Foreign Relations: 1919,I, 239–268; 1920, I, 390–409; 1921,I, 288–290, 292–294, 295–296; 1922,I, 672–676; 1923,I, 467–470.

25 43 U. S. Stat., 1841; this Journal, Supp., Vol. 19 (1925), p. 106. United States: Act of June 7, 1924, 43 U. S. Stat., 648; Canada: The Northern Pacific Halibut Fishery Protection Act, 13–14 George V, Chap. 61, June 30, 1923; Sec. 6 amended and Sec. 9 repealed, 14–15 George V, Chap. 4, May 27, 1924; this Journal, Vol. 28 (1934), pp. 701, 715.

26 U. S. Foreign Relations: 1923, I, 471–482; 1924,I, 335–341.

27 Norman MacKenzie, “Canada: The Treaty-Making Power,” 18 British Year Book of International Law (1937), 172; 17 J. Soc. Comp. Leg., N. S. (1917), 5.

28 47 U. S. Stat., 1872; this Journal, Supp., Vol. 25 (1931), p. 188. United States: Act of May 2, 1932, 47 U. S. Stat., 142; Canada: The Fisheries Act, 22–23 George V, Chap. 42, May 26, 1932. See this Journal, Vol. 28 (1934), p. 715.

29 50 U. S. Stat., 1351; this Journal, Supp. Vol. 32 (1938), p. 71; Canada Treaty Series, 1937, No. 9. United States: Act of June 28, 1937, 50 U. S. Stat., 325; Canada: Northern Pacific Halibut Fishery (Convention) Act, 1 George VI, Chap. 36, Apr. 10, 1937.

30 Much helpful information and courteous assistance has been received from Mr. William C. Herrington, now of the North Atlantic Investigations, Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Dept. of the Interior, with headquarters at the Harvard University Biological Laboratories. Any errors are the present author's.

31 Treaties and Conventions (1889), 597.

32 U. S. Foreign Relations, 1875, II, 819, 829.

33 2 Pacific Affairs (1929), 699.

34 U. S. Foreign Relations, 1908, 510; this JOUBNAL, Vol. 9 (1915), p. 813.

35 18 Press Releases, 412 (Mar. 26, 1938); 48 Current History (May, 1938), 54.

36 Alaska Fishery and Fur Seal Industries in 1938, Bur. of Fisheries, Dept. of the Interior (Washington, 1940), Adm. Rep. No. 36, p. 87; ibid., 1941, No. 40, p. 101.

37 New York Times, Mar. 2, 1941, 32: 1.

38 On Dec. 17, 1941, 1,035 Japanese fishing boats had been tied up in British Columbia under Canadian Federal Defense Regulations since Dec. 7,1941. As early as 1914, Canada licensed over 200 Japanese salmon fishing vessels for the Skeena and Fraser River regions, where the Japanese began fishing in 1888.

39 Fisheries Act No. 4003, Dec. 5,1932, 28 Pub. Laws Phil. Ids., 121; Commonwealth Act No. 108, Oct. 30, 1936, 2 Mess. (Phil.) Pres., II, 802; Comm. Act No. 115, Nov. 3, 1936, 2 Mess. (Phil.) Pres., II, 820; Comm. Act No. 421, May 31, 1939, 5 Mess. (Phil.) Pres., II, 13; Comm. Act No. 471, June 16,1939, 5 Mess. (Phil.) Pres., II, 888. Cf. People v. Santos (1936), 63 Phil. 300, 63 J. F. 323 (Fishing within 3 kilometers of Corregidor); 14 Pacific Affairs (1941), 293.

40 July 3, 1941, 77th Cong., 1st Sess., S. 1712.

41 June 18, 1937, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., S. 2679; remarks, 83 Cong. Rec, III, 2618–2622; Feb. 1, 1939, 76th Cong., 1st Sess., S. 1120.

42 Sept. 17, 1941, 77th Cong., 1st Sess., S. 1915.

43 Mar. 29, 1938, 75th Cong., 3rd Sess., S. 3744. Remarks, 83 Cong. Rec, III, 29062926, 3158–3171. May 5, 1938, passed Senate; to House Comm. on Foreign Affairs; 83 Cong. Rec, IV, 4260, VI, 6297, 6423. This Journal, Vol. 33 (1939), p. 129. Cf. Current note, Edward W. Allen, this Journal, Vol. 36 (1942), p. 115.

44 June 17,1937, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., H. R. 7552, 81 Cong. Rec, V, 5948; Nov. 15,1937, 75th Cong., 2nd Sess., H. R. 8344, 82 Cong. Rec, I, 20; Feb. 1–2, 1938, Hearings on H. R. 8344, 75th Cong., 3rd Sess., Merch. Marine & Fisheries, No. 154; Jan. 3, 1939, 76th Cong., 1st Sess., H. R. 883, 84 Cong. Rec, I, 32; Feb. 2, 1939, 76th Cong., 1st Sess., H. R. 3661, 84 Cong. Rec, I, 1095. All four were successively referred to the House Comm. on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and died there.

45 S. Res. No. 371, 48 Cong. Rec, X, 10045; this Journal, Vol. 6 (1912), p. 937; 9 (1915), ib., 815; 11 (1917), ib., 676, 687; 12 (1918), ib., 536; S. Doc. No. 640, 62nd Cong., 2nd Sess.; K. K. Kawakami, Japan and World Peace (1919), 102; 20 Revue Gen. de Droit Int. Publigue (Paris, 1913), 594.

46 44 U. S. Stat., 2358; 35 Diario Oficial (Mexico, April 10, 1926), 761.

47 From here to the end of this section, except as otherwise noted, the facts have been gathered from the daily press, chiefly the New York Times, of a day or two after the dates respectively mentioned.

48 Of the Nippon Suisan Kaisha and other companies.

49 117 Diario Oficial, No. 23, I, 6, 7.

50 Ibid., 9.

51 123 Ibid., No. 13, 13.

52 Gordon Ireland, Boundaries, Possessions and Conflicts in Central and North America and the Caribbean (1941), 129, 207.

53 Decree No. 6 of Jan. 10, 1938; 35 Gaceta Oficial, No. 7703, 2.

54 Ireland, op. cit. (Central America), 411–415.

55 U. S. Foreign Relations, 1867, II, 61.

56 66 British and Foreign State Papers, 218; 2 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Tratiis, 2' Ser., 582.

57 98 British and Foreign State Papers, 735; 33 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Traitis, 2' Ser., 3.

58 101 British and Foreign State Papers, 453; 1 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Traitis, 3' Ser., 861.

59 By a boundary treaty signed at Aigun May 16,1858, China and Russia agreed to possess in common, as theretofore, the territory between the rivers Amur and Usuri and the sea; but by an additional treaty signed at Peking, Nov. 2, 1860, Russia obtained as sole owner the area east of those rivers, containing the Sikhota Alin Mountains on the Gulf of Tartary and the Japan Sea, Usuri Bay and the Golden Horn (Zolotoi Rog), around which Vladivostok (Possessor of the East; founded 1861) was later built. 53 British and Foreign State Papers, 964, 970; 17 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Traies, I, 1; II, 181.

60 122 British and Foreign State Papers, 894; League of Nations, 34 Treaty Series, 32; 15 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Traitis, 3« Ser., 323. Cf. Edward W. Allen, North Pacific (New York, 1936), Chap. XXV; Edward W. Allen, “North Pacific Fisheries,” 10 Pacific Affairs (1937), 136.

61 129 British and Foreign State Papers, II, 769; League of Nations, 80 Treaty Series, 342; 25 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Traitis, 3« Ser., 425. Cf. M. Mayeda, “The Russo-Japanese Dispute on Fishing Rights,” 29 Journal of International Law and Diplomacy (Tokyo), Nos. 9 & 10 (Nov. & Dec. 1930); Survey of International Affairs (London, 1929), 370.

62 Japan Year Books, 1920–1941 (Tokyo).

63 From here to the end of this section, except as otherwise noted, the facts have been compiled from the daily press, chiefly the New York Times, of a day or two after the dates respectively mentioned; and also in part from the Chronicle of International Events in this Journal.

64 “Philip C. Jessup, Law of Territorial Waters (1927), 26, 45; William E. Masterson, Jurisdiction in Marginal Seas (1929), 286–303; Christopher B. V. Meyer, Extent of Jurisdiction in Coastal Waters (1937), 235–260, 262.

65 87 British and Foreign State Papers, 799; 21 Martens, Nouv. Rec. Gen. de Traitis, 22 Ser., 642.

66 88 British and Foreign State Papers, 473.

67 96 Ibid., 578.

68 92 Ibid., 1057.

69 This Journal, Vol. 2 (1908), p. 391.

70 G. Ireland, “Marginal Seas Around the States,” 2 Louisiana Law Review (1940), 277.

71 Incidents with Japanese fishermen have already occurred in the waters of Brazil, Cuba and the east coast of Mexico.