Donut Case
North Pacific Overfishing (DONUT)
CASE NUMBER: 169
CASE MNEMONIC: DONUT
CASE NAME: The Donut Hole
A. IDENTIFICATION
1. The Issue
Conflicts over harvesting and depletion rates arise in
any "open-access" fishery, but they can become especially heated
when the stocks being fished are suspected to straddle or move
back and forth across the open area and an area of regulated
national jurisdiction. This is exactly the problem that has arisen
in the Central Bering Sea. Since the extension of ocean
jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles by both the United States and
Russia, the Central Bering Sea is completely surrounded by the two
nations' exclusive economic zones (EEZ). This area thus remains
high seas and is termed "Donut Hole". Large-scale fishing of
"pollock" in the Hole by the United States, Russia, Japan, South
Korea, China, and Poland resulted in the depletion of pollock
stock and endangered other species which feed on it, including
Steller sea lion, fur seal, and seabirds. Fortunately, a
convention was signed on June 16, 1994 by the states stated above
with regard to the regulating of fishing in the Donut Hole.
2. Description
The first issue that should be elaborated is the
characteristics of the Bering Sea. The North Pacific-Bering Sea
region exhibits several biological and geological features with
important implications for the use of its resources. The
shallowness and width of continental shelves, large-scale
upwellings, the hydrochemical structure, seasonal sea ice, and
other factors result in extremely high productivity (Broadus
et.al. 1994). Therefore, the average productivity of the North
Pacific is 1.3 to 4.5 times the average background values for the
oceans in general. The Bering Sea proper has high concentrations
of nutrients, which in turn support large growths of
phytoplankton and zooplankton. This ecosystem includes 450 species
of fishes, crustaceans, and mollusks, of which 50 species are
commercially important. Pollock, Pacific code, and sole are
valuable demersal fishes.
The high seas donut hole encompasses approximately
48,000 square miles of surface area and comprises 19 percent of
the Aleutian Basin or 10 percent of the entire Bering Sea area
(Canfield 1993). Although there are uncertainties about how much
stocks in the Donut Hole actually straddle, both the United States
and Soviet Union became increasingly concerned in the late 1980s
about uncontrolled fishing there by Japan, South Korea, China, and
Poland (Broadus: 60). The "Alaskan pollock" stock constitutes the
most significant stock being targeted in the Hole. Rapid
development of this fishery brought a total pollock catch from of
only 363,424 metric tons in 1985 up to nearly 1.5 million metric
tons in 1989 (Canfield: 262). The Alaskan pollock also became the
single-species that was caught the most in the world. In 1970 it
was the third with 3.1 million catch, behind Peruvian anchovy and
Atlantic cod. However, in 1980 its catch increased to 4.0 million
tons, leaving other species far behind (Weber 1994). Because of
this high catch, U.S. fishermen suspected the foreign fleets were
simply using the Hole for staging covert fishing operations within
US waters. Between September 1989 and July 1992, U.S. coast guards
seized eleven foreign fishing vessels allegedly engaged in such
activity (Canfield: 261).
Apart from the legal loopholes and economic reasons, the
technological innovation contributed to the depletion of pollock
stock in the region. Not only are there more boats, but the boats
are better at catching fish. Modern driftnets, for example, are
made of nylon mono or multifilament with a diameter of about 0.5
mm. Because the material is both invisible and acoustically
undetectable, catches by driftnets are indiscriminate. And because
the nets are virtually unbreakable, almost nothing over mesh size
can escape, making driftnetting a highly efficient mode of capture.
"In early 1980s Japanese fleets, as well as Taiwan and South
Korea, came to use large-scale driftnets in the North Pacific Ocean
to catch salmon, tuna, squid, [pollock], etc. Among victims are
marine mammals, such as whale, dolphin, porpoise, fur seal; and
other sea animals such as sea turtle and even sea birds" (Lee
1994). Technology also helped fishing vessels find fish and get to
where they are. Sonar displays, radar, computer databases and
other devices allow the crew to determine not only the location of
schools of fish but their type and size.
Pollock stock diminished by an estimated 75 percent by
1991 that resulted in dramatic changes in entire marine
ecosystem. One species of marine mammals, the Stellar sea cow, has
already been driven to extinction in the Bering Sea. Pollock are
important food species for "northern fur seals" in the region.
Researchers found out that, during the period of fishery expansion
for pollock, northern fur seal diets included
progressively more pollock (Broadus: 58). Consequently, fur seal
population declined by about half during the era before
stabilizing in recent years. "Harbor seal" population has also
waned (Lexis/ Nexis).
Depletion of pollock stock also contributed to the rapid
decline in numbers of "Steller's sea lion". Statewide, the
population totals about 37,000, a decline of more than 70% since
the mid 1970s. From the Western Gulf of Alaska to the Aleutian
Islands, the population has dropped about 85 percent since 1960.
Sea lions are particularly vulnerable because the remaining
population is grouped in isolated clusters rather than spread out
evenly over the region. Projections have indicated that the
Steller's sea line extinct in little more than twenty years if
this rate of decline continues (Lexis/Nexis). The U.S. federal
government has declared the Steller sea lion a threatened species
and is scheduled to review that status to see if they should be
designated as endangered. Researchers also proposed that poor
pollock recruitment in recent years led to persistent seabird
breeding failures, as well as to declines in population sizes of
"black-legged kittiwakes and red-legged kittiwakes." By 1989, the
red-legged kittiwake population had dropped to about half its 1976
total of 250,000.
3. Related Cases:
DRIFTJAP Case
GILLNET Case
DRIFTEC Case
TURBOT Case
SALMON Case
PACTUNA Case
4. Draft Author: Nejat DOGAN
B. LEGAL Clusters
Mutual recognition of the need to jointly address the
problem of overfishing in the Central Bering Sea was first
evidenced in the declared results of the May 29-June 2, 1988,
Reagan-Gorbachev summit meeting in Moscow. The leaders expressed
the intent to cooperate on a wide variety of issues revolving
around the Bering Sea (Canfield: 268). In June of 1990, during the
US-USSR Summit, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev issued a joint
statement calling for urgent conservation measures to be taken
with regard to the unregulated pollock fishery (Convention on the
Conservation and Management of Pollock Resources in the Central
Bering Sea 1994). Meanwhile, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund,
acting on behalf of Greenpeace, sued the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS). The suit claimed that a 41% increase in
the total allowable catch for Gulf of Alaska pollock for 1991
violated NMFS's obligation under the Endangered Species Act to
avoid any action "likely to jeopardize the continued existence of
any endangered or threatened species" (Lexis/Nexis).
The United States increased its pressure to conserve the
Donut Hole resources in 1992 by passing the "Central Bering Sea
Fisheries Enforcement Act." This Act prohibited U.S.
nationals and vessels from fishing in the Donut except when
allowed under an international fishery agreement to which both the
U.S. and Russia are parties. The Act also prohibited the entry
into U.S. ports of fishing vessels from foreign nations fishing in
the Donut outside of an international agreement to which both the
U.S. and Russia are parties.
By August 1992 pollock stocks had declined so
drastically that China, Japan, South Korea, and Poland agreed to
join the United States and Russia in a "voluntary suspension" of
fishing for pollock in the Donut Hole for all of 1993 and 1994.
The United States and Russia also agreed to suspend pollock
fishing in their Bering Sea EEZs (Broadus: 61). Total pollack
catch in the Hole dropped to 10,308 metric tons in 1992. On April
4, 1993, Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin, in the Joint Statement
issued at the Vancouver Summit, announced their intention to
expand and improve their joint work in the area of environmental
protection.
Finally, the "Convention on the Conservation and
Management of Pollock Resources in the Central Bering Sea" was
signed in Washington on June 16, 1994, by China, South Korea,
Russia, and the United States. Japan and Poland also signed the
Convention in Washington on August 4, 1994, and August 25, 1994,
respectively. According to the Convention, there will be no
fishing for pollock stock unless a threshold of 1.67 million
metric ton is reached. A second key point is that if a fishery is
allowed in the Donut Hole, fishermen of each nation will
participate in that fishery through either a national quota or by
way of the establishment of a fishing seasons. There are also
strict enforcement measures. These measures relate to the use of
real-time satellite position fixing transmitters, boarding and
inspection on the high seas, and notification requirements that
relate to entry into the fishing area.
5. Discourse and Status: AGR and COMPLETE
6. Forum and Scope: BERING SEA AND MULTI
7. Decision Breadth: 6 (CHINA, JAPAN, POLAND, RUSSIA,
SOUTH KOREA,USA)
8. Legal Standing: TREATY
C. GEOGRAPHIC Clusters
9. Geographic Locations
a. Geographic Domain : Pacific
b. Geographic Site : Northern Pacific
c. Geographic Impact : USA
10. Sub-National Factors: NO
11. Type of Habitat: OCEAN/ Alaskan Pollock, Mammals.
D. TRADE Clusters
12. Type of Measure: REGBAN, QUOTA, and REGSTD
There will be no fishing for the stock of pollock unless
a threshold biomass of 1.67 million metric tons is
reached. Thus, there is a regulatory ban for fishing if biomass is
under this volume. (Biomass is defined as any quantitative
estimate of the total mass of organisms comprising all or part of
a population or any other specified unit, or within a given area
at a given time; measured as volume, mass or energy, Lincoln
et.al. 1982). Secondly, even if biomass is enough for fishing, the
parties to the Convention must negotiate to find the best way to
fish, whether to set a quota or to fix a fishing season. So, there
is a possibility of setting a quota as well as a regulatory
standard.
13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: DIR
14. Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact
a. Directly Related : YES
The Convention aims to eliminate the problem of pollock
depletion, and thus, brings a solution to the species loss with
regard to the Northern fur seal, the Steller sea lion, and black-
and red-legged Kittiwake. So, the measure has both direct and
indirect implications.
b. Indirectly Related : YES
c. Not Related : NO
d. Process Related : YES
Although this study concentrated on the pollock catch,
there are surely other problems in the North Atlantic Ocean with
regard to marine environment. Driftnet fisheries and incidental
take are two of these problems. The Convention, by regulating
fishing activities in the Donut Hole, will affect the population
of pollock, marine mammals and sea birds positively in the long
run.
15. Trade Product Identification: FISH / ALASKAN POLLOCK
16. Economic Data
Pollock has been an important revenue source for
fishermen during the 1980s. Whereas the total pollock cath in the
Donut Hole was 100,000 metric tons in 1983, it was almost 1.5
million metric tons in 1989. Thanks to the measures taken, the
catch dropped dramatically to the level of 0.3 million metric tons
in 1991, and to almost zero in 1992. The value of pollock in 1989
was $331/ton. If we recall that fish prices increased more than
those of beef, pork, and chicken from 1974 on, the economic value
of the catches from the Donut Hole can be better
understood.
Fishing is of great importance to the state of Alaska.
In 1990, the Alaskan fishing industry produced 46 percent of all
U.S. seafood, with an estimated wholesale value of more than $3
billion. Fishing supports one-sixth of the state's economy,
employing approximately 20,000 individuals (Canfield: 258).
The high seas fishery has been regarded as extremely
important by each of the states operating distant water fishing
fleets in the Bering Sea. Poland regards the Central Bering Sea as
its most valuable fishing grounds, yet its catch there has
consistently declined. Japan has traditionally invested the most
in increasing its catch. In 1989, Japanese fishermen caught
654,909 metric tons of Alaskan pollock in the Donut Hole. By late
1991, Japanese fleets operating in the Bering Sea employed a total
crew of 3,300, and an estimated 20 to 30 percent of the country's
pollock supplies have originated in the Bering Sea high seas each
year.
17. Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness: HIGH
18. Industry Sector: Alaskan Pollock [FOOD]
19. Exporter and Importer: Many and Many
E. ENVIRONMENT Clusters
20. Environmental Problem Type: Species Loss Sea [SPLS].
Besides the fact that Stellar sea cow has already become
extinct in the Bering Sea, the existing threat to other species
can be summarized as follows: First, pollock are important food
species for northern fur seals. During the period of fishery
expansion for pollock, however, northern fur seal diets included
progressively more pollock, despite a drop in size of the fish
eaten. Second, ecosystem-wide stress is also thought to be
contributing to the precipitous decline in numbers of Steller's
sea lion (Eumatopias jubatus) in the Bering Sea region. The
population had fallen 63 percent since 1985. The decline was most
pronounced in the Eastern Aleutian Islands (93 percent since
1960), but it eventually extended from the Gulf of Alaska to the
western Aleutians. Projections have indicated that the species
could become extinct in little more than twenty years if this rate
of decline continuous. Last, but not least, poor pollock
recruitment in recent years led to the decline in population sizes
of black legged kittiwakes, red-legged kittiwakes, and other
piscivorous seabirds at island colonies in the Bering Sea.
21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species
Name: Steller Sea lion
Type: Animal/Mammal/Fish
Diversity: Many
22. Impact and Effect: MEDIUM and PROD
23. Urgency and Lifetime: MEDIUM and 20 years
24. Substitutes: BIODG
VI. OTHER Factors
25. Culture: YES
Pollock is regarded as a special resource in Japan,
where it is used in fishcakes and rolls of boiled fish paste.
26. Trans-Border: YES
27. Rights: YES
Regulation of fishing in the Donut Hole will surely
affect "people's right to work" negatively, at least in the short
run.
28. Relevant Literature
Broadus, James M. and Raphael V.Vartanov, "Living Resource
Problems," in their The Oceans and Environmental Security.
Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1994, pp.50-85.
Burke, W.T. "Anandromous Species and the New International Law of
the Sea." Ocean Development and International Law 22, pp.95-
131.
Canfield, J.L. "Recent Developments in Bering Sea Fisheries
Conservation and Management." Ocean Development and
International Law 24, pp.257-289.
Convention on the Conservation and Management of Pollock
Resources in the Central Bering Sea (Treaty Doc.103-27).
Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations United
States Senate, 103rd Congress, 2nd Session. Washington:
U.S.Government Printing Office, 1994.
"Curb on Bering Sea Fishing Tentatively Set," The New York
Times, February 14, 1994, A8: 3.
"Hard Harvest on Bering Sea," National Geographic, v.182, October
1992, pp.72-103.
Lee James, Ted Cases Collection (unpub.), American University.
Lexis/Nexis. ENVIRN/Donut Hole/ALLNWS and ENVIRN/Pollock and
Bering Sea/ALLNWS.
Lincoln, R.J., G.A.Boxshall, P.F.Clark. A Dectionary of Ecology,
Evolution and Systemics. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1992.
Weber, Peter. Net Loss: Fish, Jobs, and the Marine Environment.
Worldwatch Paper 120. Worldwatch Institute, July 1994.
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