[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 8 (Monday, February 26, 1996)]
[Pages 344-345]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on the Law of the Sea 
Fisheries Agreement

February 20, 1996

To the Senate of the United States:

    With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to 
ratification, I transmit herewith the Agreement for the Implementation 
of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 
of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of 
Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, with Annexes 
(``the Agreement''), which was adopted at United Nations Headquarters in 
New York by consensus of the United Nations Conference on Straddling 
Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish

[[Page 345]]

Stocks on August 4, 1995, and signed by the United States on December 4, 
1995. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of 
the Secretary of State with respect to the Agreement.
    The Agreement represents a considerable achievement for the United 
States in promoting better stewardship of living marine resources. It 
strikes a sound balance between the interests of coastal States in 
protecting offshore fishery resources and those of States whose fishing 
vessels operate on the high seas. If widely ratified and properly 
implemented, the Agreement should significantly improve the prospects 
for sustainable fisheries worldwide.
    The Agreement builds directly upon, and strengthens, the fishery 
provisions contained in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of 
the Sea (``the Convention''), which I transmitted to the Senate for 
advice and consent on October 6, 1994. As such, the Agreement further 
reflects the central role of the Convention in governing the maritime 
relations of the international community.
    Perhaps more than any other nation, the United States stands to 
benefit from widespread adherence to this Agreement. The Agreement will 
help to ensure that the harvesting of fish by vessels of other nations 
in waters beyond our exclusive economic zone does not undermine our 
domestic management of fisheries within U.S. jurisdiction. In addition, 
by promoting sound conservation practices generally, the Agreement can 
restore and maintain productive ocean fisheries for the benefit of 
American consumers and for U.S. fishing vessels wherever they operate.
    With regard to disputes concerning the interpretation or application 
of the Agreement, I intend to choose a special arbitral tribunal 
constituted in accordance with Annex VIII of the Convention, as 
recommended in the accompanying report of the Department of State.
    I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration 
to the Agreement and give its advice and consent to its ratification.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
February 20, 1996.