Soviet-United States Joint Statement on Bering Sea Fisheries Conservation

In the course of the state visit by the President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the United States of America, the sides reviewed problems posed by the development of an unregulated multi-national fishery for pollock in the central Bering Sea. In light of the magnitude of that fishery, which accounts for more than one-third of the total annual catch of pollock in the Bering Sea, the situation is of serious environmental concern. In particular, there is a danger to the stocks from overfishing. This may result in significant harm to the ecological balance in the Bering Sea and to those U.S. and USSR coastal communities whose livelihoods depend on the living marine resources of the Bering Sea.

The sides agreed that urgent conservation measures should be taken with regard to this unregulated fishery. The sides noted that, in accordance with international law as reflected in the relevant provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, all concerned states, including coastal states and fishing states, should cooperate to ensure the conservation of these living resources. To this end, both sides noted that they would welcome cooperative efforts towards the development of an international regime for the conservation and management of the living marine resources in the central Bering Sea.