Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I The nationals and inhabitants and fishing vessels and boats of the United States of America and of Canada, respectively, are hereby prohibited from fishing for halibut (Hippoglossus) both in the territorial waters and in the high seas off the western coasts of the United States of America, including the southern as well as the western coasts of Alaska, and of Canada, from the first day of November next after the date of the exchange of ratifications of this Convention to the fifteenth day of the following February, both days inclusive, and within the same period yearly thereafter. The International Fisheries Commission provided for by Article III is hereby empowered, subject to the approval of the President of the United States of America and of the Governor General of Canada, to suspend or change the closed season provided for by this Article, as to part or all of the convention waters, when it finds after investigation such suspensions or changes are necessary, and to permit, limit, regulate, and prohibit in any area or at any time when fishing for halibut is prohibited, the taking, retention, and landing of halibut caught incidentally to fishing for other species of fish, and the possession during such fishing of halibut of any origin. It is understood that nothing contained in this Convention shall prohibit the nationals or inhabitants or the fishing vessels or boats of the United States of America or of Canada, from fishing in the waters herein before specified for other species of fish during the season when fishing for halibut in such waters is prohibited by this Convention or by any regulations adopted in pursuance of its provisions. It is further understood that nothing contained in this Convention shall prohibit the International Fisheries Commission from conducting fishing operations for investigation purposes at any time. ARTICLE II Every national or inhabitant, vessel or boat of the United States of America or of Canada engaged in halibut fishing on the high seas in violation of this Convention or of any regulation adopted under the provisions thereof may be seized by the duly authorized officers of either High Contracting Party and detained by the officers making such seizure and delivered as soon as practicable to an authorized official of the country to which such person, vessel, or boat belongs, at the nearest point to the place of seizure, or elsewhere, as may be agreed upon. The authorities of the nation to which such person, vessel, or boat belongs alone shall have jurisdiction to conduct prosecutions for the violation of the provisions of this Convention, or any regulations which may be adopted in pursuance of its provisions, and to impose penalties for such violations; and the witnesses and proofs necessary for such prosecutions, so far as such witnesses or proofs are under the control of the other High Contracting Party, shall be furnished with all reasonable promptitude to the authorities having jurisdiction to conduct the prosecutions. Each High Contracting Party shall be responsible for the proper observance of this Convention, or of any regulation adopted under the provisions thereof in the portion of its waters covered thereby. ARTICLE III The High Contracting Parties agree to continue under this Convention the Commission as at present constituted and known as the International Fisheries Commission, established by the Convention for the preservation of the halibut fishery, signed at Washington, March 2, 1923, and continued under the Convention signed at Ottawa, May 9, 1930, consisting of four members, two appointed by each Party, which Commission shall make such investigations as are necessary into the life history of the halibut in the convention waters and shall publish a report of its activities from time to time. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall have power to fill, and shall fill from time to time, vacancies which may occur in its representation on the Commission. Each of the High Contracting Parties shall pay the salaries and expenses of its own members, and joint expenses incurred by the Commission shall be paid by the two High Contracting Parties in equal moieties. The High Contracting Parties agree that for the purposes of protecting and conserving the halibut fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, the International Fisheries Commission, with the approval of the President of the United States of America and of the Governor General of Canada, may, in respect of the nationals and inhabitants and fishing vessels and boats of the United States of America and of Canada, from time to time (a) divide the convention waters into areas; (b) limit the catch of halibut to be taken from each area within the season during which fishing for halibut is allowed; (c) prohibit departure of vessels from any port or place, or from any receiving vessel or station, to any area for halibut fishing, after any date when in the judgment of the International Fisheries Commission the vessels which have departed for that area prior to that date or which are known to be fishing in that area shall suffice to catch the limit which shall have been set for that area under section (b) of this paragraph, (d) fix the size and character of halibut fishing appliances to be used in any area; (e) make such regulations for the licensing and departure of vessels and for the collection of statistics of the catch of halibut as it shall find necessary to determine the condition and trend of the halibut fishery and to carry out the other provisions of this Convention; (f) close to all halibut fishing such portion or portions of an area or areas as the International Fisheries Commission find to be populated by small, immature halibut. ARTICLE IV The High Contracting Parties agree to enact and enforce such legislation as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of this Convention and any regulations adopted thereunder, with appropriate penalties for violations thereof. ARTICLE V The present Convention shall remain in force for a period of five years and thereafter until two years from the date when either of the High Contracting Parties shall give notice to the other of its desire to terminate it. This Convention shall, from the date of the exchange of ratifications, be deemed to supplant the Convention for the preservation of the halibut fishery signed at Ottawa, May 9, 1930. ARTICLE VI This Convention shall be ratified in accordance with the constitutional methods of the High Contracting Parties. The ratifications shall be exchanged at Ottawa as soon as practicable, and the Convention shall come into force on the day of the exchange of ratifications. In faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention in duplicate, and have hereunto affixed their seals. Done at Ottawa on the twenty-ninth day of January, in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven. NORMAN ARMOUR. [SEAL] [SEAL] AND WHEREAS the said Convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were exchanged in the city of Ottawa, on the twenty-eighth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven; NOW, THEREFORE, be it known that I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States of America and the citizens thereof. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. DONE at the city of Washington this fourth day of August in the year [SEAL] of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-second. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. Senator WALLGREN. Now, Mr. Chairman, I realize this has been a little bit lengthy, but that is an opening statement in which I have reviewed this bill for you, and we shall have other statements, and I hope that the bill will receive your sympathetic consideration. Senator BILBO (chairman of the subcommittee). Have you any further statement? Senator WALLGREN. No; that is all. Senator BILBO. Now we have with us Colonel Goethals from the War Department, who hopes to make a brief statement. STATEMENT OF COL. GEORGE R. GOETHALS, CORPS OF ENGINEERS; CHIEF, CIVIL WORKS DIVISION, OFFICE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, WASHINGTON, D, C. Colonel GOETHALS. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the committee, my name is George R. Goethals, colonel, Corps of Engineers,,Chief of the Civil Works Division, Office of the Chief of Engineers. At this time the attitude of the War Department on this bill has not been determined, but I should like to state for the benefit of the committee my personal opinion on this proposed legislation, in the belief that it may be helpful, because my division of the War Department is that which sees the issuance of all civil permits for the placing of structures in navigable waters of the United States. Senator WALLGREN. I might say right at this point, Colonel, practically the only interest the War Department has in the bill or the Alaskan fisheries at all, is the question as to whether or not the driving of traps or the erection of other fishing apparatus would interfere with navigation; is that correct? Colonel GOETHALS. That is correct; yes. The purpose of this legislation is primarily to strengthen the control exercised by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior over salmon fishing in Alaskan waters. The control exercised by the War Department over fish traps in Alaskan waters, as elsewhere, has for its primary purpose the prevention of interference by the traps with navigation. The requirement by the War Department that permits be obtained for traps in navigable waters is a part of that control as contemplated by section 10 of the River and Harbor Act approved March 3, 1899 (30 Stat. 1151). An additional purpose was introduced in 1935 when this Department, in response to a request from the Bureau of Fisheries, now the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, agreed that no application for a permit to place a fish trap in Alaskan waters would be favorably considered if the trap would obviously conflict with regulations administered by the Bureau. In requesting that agreement the Bureau of Fisheries stated that effort would be made to secure legislation giving that Bureau more effective control over fishing in those waters and that such limitation of War Department permits were essential to check the practice of "trap-jumping" prevalent at that time. The procedure resulting from this agreement was that was that only one War Department permit was issued for each site declared by the Bureau of Fisheries to be open for fishing. This procedure coupled with conservation measures instituted by that Bureau made such permits valuable and in considerable demand. V The procedure of this Department in issuing fish trap permits was challenged in 1939 by certain fishing interests and the delegate from Alaska on the basis that it endowed such permits with certain proprietary rights which they are not intended to have. The Fish and Wildlife Service upon being informed of that situation agreed that there was no other recourse open than to recede from the agreement. Notwithstanding the fact that this procedure may have been desirable for the purpose of good administration as a whole on the part of the Federal Government, this Department recognized that there were certain legal questions relating to property rights and the constitutional rights of the citizens of the United States to fish in territorial waters. Accordingly, on October 14, 1940, regulations were established which provided, among other things, that a War Department permit would be issued for each application even if more than one application for the same site were received. By such action this Department reverted to the procedure followed prior to the agreement with the Bureau of Fisheries in 1935. Following the publication of the 1940 regulations a number of fishing concerns, salmon-packing companies, and various associations representing these industries, made strong representations that the Department should not have withdrawn from the procedure followed from 1935 to 1940. The Department of the Interior on January 22, 1941, invited the attention of this Department to the confusion and misunderstanding which might arise from the enforcement of such regulations and expressed the opinion that it would be unwise if any action be taken which might result in curtailing the production of canned salmon, which is regarded as an excellent military ration. The Department of the Interior also stated that legislation would be introduced which would clarify the fish trap situation in Alaska and recommended that this Department suspend the 1940 regulations for 1 year. The effective date of such regulations has heretofore been postponed for the duration of the war and 6 months thereafter. The regulation of fishing in Alaskan waters is not properly the function of this Department and the temporary expedient of extending navigation laws for this purpose should be ended. The War Department should return as soon as possible to the consideration of navigation only in dealing with fish traps in Alaskan waters. The experience of this Department in administering the placing of such traps clearly indicates the necessity for modification of the laws governing the taking of fish from such waters. Insofar as the interests committed to this Department are concerned it is my opinion that the proposed legislation be favorably considered. Senator BILBO (chairman of the subcommittee). Colonel, we thank you for your presence and contribution to the cause. Will the War Department have any further statement to make on this bill? Colonel GOETHALS. Not as far as I am aware, Mr. Chairman. Senator WALLGREN. However, Colonel, do you anticipate that a report will be sent down, along the lines of your statement? Colonel GOETHALS. Yes, sir; I anticipate that. Senator BILBO. Yes. Senator WALLGREN. Very well. (Colonel Goethals withdrew from the committee table.) Senator BILBO. We shall next hear from Mr. Dimond, who is the Delegate from Alaska, representing the Territory. Just come around here and have a chair. STATEMENT OF ANTHONY J. DIMOND, DELEGATE FOR ALASKA, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. DIMOND. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the privilege of being here and being afforded an opportunity to speak upon this proposed legislation. Some of what I have to say doesn't come from my heart with any degree of cheer, because I must, as strongly as I can, oppose practically everything that is offered in S. 930, as being adverse to the interests of the people of Alaska whom I represent in Congress. Senator BILBO. What sections? Mr. DIMOND. Practically all of it. Senator BILBO. Practically all of it? Mr. DIMOND. I am coming to that in detail. This is merely a preliminary statement. Senator BILBO. All right. Mr. DIMOND. And I do not like to oppose any legislation proposed by anyone for whom I have such great respect, not unmixed with affection, as I entertain for the distinguished proponent of the bill, Senator Wallgren, with whom I served so long in the House and for whom I have the highest feeling of friendship. Section 2 of the bill as it was originally drafted, down as far as line 8 on page 2, is the only part of the bill that I can support. That is the part of the bill-and I understand it is no longer before the committee because of an amendment-that is the part of the bill which seeks to extend the jurisdiction over the marginal seas more than 3 miles from shore and to prevent a recurrence of what happened in 1936 and 1937 when the Japanese came into that area and threatened to destroy the entire Bristol Bay fishery. At that time I introduced in the House, in 1937, a bill, H. R. 8344, upon which extensive hearings were had in the House and which received the careful attention of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. My distinguished friend was then a member of that committee. That bill, if I may be permitted to say it, sought to extend jurisdiction over the marginal seas as far as the edge of the continental shelf, and the limit of the continental shelf is described in that bill as being that area over which the water is not over 100 fathoms deep. I think the only reason the bill was not favorably acted upon by the House Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and later by Congress, was because of the objection offered then, as now, by the Department of State, saying that passage of any such legislation would imperil, at that time, our good relations with Japan and that the matter could be settled otherwise. It was settled otherwise. So that after 1938, to the best of my knowledge, few, if any, Japanese came into the nearby coastal waters to fish for our salmon. However, if the committee cares to go into the subejct at all, I respectfully invite the committee's attention to the printed hearings on the bill H. R. 8344 of 1938 and to a later work on the subject, a scholarly work, written by Dr. Joseph Walter Bingham, of Stanford University, and published in 1938 and entitled "Report on the International Law of |