COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS THOMAS E. MORGAN, Pennsylvania, Chairman CLEMENT J. ZABLOCKI, Wisconsin L. H. FOUNTAIN, North Carolina RONALD V. DELLUMS, California WILLIAM S. MAILLIARD, California EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, Illinois ROY J. BULLOCK, Staff Administrator SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND MOVEMENTS DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida H. R. GROSS, Iowa PETER H. B. FRELINGHUYSEN, New Jersey PAUL FINDLEY, Illinois SEYMOUR HALPERN, New York ROBERT B. BOETTCHER, Subcommittee Staff Consultant KF27 CONTENTS Stevenson, Hon. John, Legal Adviser, Department of State.. Carter, Jared, Office of Ocean Affairs, Department of Defense.. Pollock, Hon. Howard, Deputy Administrator, National Oceanic and Tuesday, April 11, 1972: Laylin, John G., attorney at law, Washington, D.C. MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Letter from John R. Stevenson, Chairman, Interagency Law of the Sea Task Force and Legal Adviser, Department of State, to Senate Com- mittee on Interior and Insular Affairs, on S. 2801, a bill to provide the Secretary of Interior with authority to promote the conservation and orderly development of the hard mineral resources of the deep-sea bed, Statement of Robert Cory, Friends Committee on National Legislation... Statement of Dr. Vincent E. McKelvey, Chief Geologist, U.S. Geological Statement of C. Maxwell Stanley, Chairman of the Board, Stanley Con- (III) LAW OF THE SEA AND PEACEFUL USES OF THE SEABEDS MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1972 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL The subcommittee met at 2:05 p.m. in room 2255, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Donald M. Fraser (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. FRASER. That meeting of the subcommittee will please come to order. We are expecting several other members of the subcommittee, but I think we might start and I am sure they can catch up after arriving, Today the subcommittee begins hearings on the law of the seas and peaceful uses of the seabeds. Our focus will be on the U.N.-sponsored Law of the Sea Conference planned for 1973 and the preparations for it. During the past month, while serving as a congressional adviser on the U.S. delegation to the meeting of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Seabeds, I became more aware not only of the importance of this subject to peoples of all nations but also of its great technical, political, and legal complexities, all of which make it extremely difficult to reach agreements. But the alternative to comprehensive international agreements would appear to be an ever-increasing struggle among nations over the resources and uses of the seas and seabeds. We hope that our hearings in this subcommittee will make some contribution toward better congressional and public understanding of this subject. In the course of the hearings over the next few weeks, we will attempt to get a clear and balanced definition of our national interests on the law of the seas and seabeds by hearing testimony from representatives of U.S. Government agencies, international legal and marine scholars, and representative experts on mining, petroleum, and fishing interests, among others. This afternoon we are pleased to welcome a panel of expert witnesses from the executive branch led by the Honorable John Stevenson, Legal Adviser of the Department of State, who also serves as Chief of the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Seabeds Committee. Mr. Stevenson is accompanied by Jared Carter, Office of Ocean Affairs in the Department of Defense; the Honorable Howard Pollock, a former Member of the House of Representatives and presently serving as Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency; and Mr. Leigh Ratiner, Ocean Affairs Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Interior for Mineral Resources. Mr. Stevenson, you have a prepared statement and I understand you may wish to read it. Mr. STEVENSON. I would like to. Mr. FRASER. Very well. Please proceed. STATEMENT OF JOHN STEVENSON, LEGAL ADVISER, DEPARTMENT OF STATE; CHIEF OF U.S. DELEGATION TO U.N. SEABEDS COMMITTEE Mr. STEVENSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do welcome this opportunity to appear before this committee today to discuss preparations for the Law of the Sea Conference. As you mentioned, I am accompanied by Mr. Howard Pollock, who represented the State of Alaska in the House of Representatives and who is now Deputy Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce; Mr. Jared Carter, who is currently Deputy Director of the Office of Ocean Affairs, Department of Defense; and Mr. Leigh Ratiner, who is the Director of Ocean Resources, Department of the Interior. Mr. Chairman, may I say how helpful it was to me as head of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. Seabed Committee that you were able to serve as a congressional adviser on our delegation and to spend some time with us in New York during the committee's March session. I hope you will continue this interest in the delegation. We continue to look forward to close and continuing contact with the Congress on the important questions involved in this negotiation. Mr. Chairman, the nations of the world are now facing a crisis in the law of the sea. Basic principles that have governed the activities of men and nations on the seas for centuries are being challenged, and international procedures for adapting these principles to modern conditions are under severe strain. While we should not minimize the implications of this situation for specific uses of the seas, I believe there are also broader implications for the international community that should not be overlooked. First, the law of the sea lies at the heart of modern international law as it emerged in the 17th century. Should it collapse under the weight of conflicting unilateral actions based almost exclusively on immediate national interests, the result will be a severe blow to the prospects for the rule of law not only in the oceans, but in the international community generally. Second, the law of the sea governs the activities of States on, under, and over two-thirds of this planet. The importance of the oceans to the security and well being of all mankind is increasing at an extraordinary rate. It is clear that as the magnitude of interests in the seas increases, the danger of conflict-and hence the need for law-increases as well. The United States is a party to the four conventions in the law of the sea adopted at the 1958 Conference on the Law of the Sea. While these conventions represent a very significant codification of the law of the sea, there are several problems with them. The 1958 conference, as well as a subsequent 1960 conference specifically called for this purpose, were unable to resolve the question of the maximum breadth of the territorial sea and coastal state fisheries jurisdiction. Moreover, |