“Donut hole” Americans call the open part of the Bering Sea. Approximately by the same term we call the open part of the Okhotsk Sea. It was described in details in the series of films produced at Fareastern Fishery studios “Polygon of the Okhotsk Sea”.
Though at this ends the similarity in the situation with opened for international catch in the waters of the Bering and Okhotsk Seas.
The more so situation in the open part of the Okhotsk Sea and following it economic and political consequences is fully provoked by the Russia-American Agreement on the open part of the Bering Sea. As it often happens lately in big policy - we, Russians another time have been betrayed by the Russian diplomacy, which has nothing to do with the national resources of Russia in favor of the interests of the rich neighbor.
What has happened? The following at the introduction in the end of the 70s 200-miles marine economic regions, there appeared such a notion as “open sea” or “the open part of the sea” which was not any jurisdiction of this or that state, having access to the coast of that sea. Thus was formed the open part of the Bering Sea and the open part of the Okhotsk Sea which look at the map as irregular polygons.
But if the open part of the Okhotsk Sea was in fact the inner sea of Russia as it was surrounded from all parts by the Russian coasts, then the open part of the Bering Sea was surrounded by Russian and American coasts.
This is the first difference.
And the second, still more important in principle - American desire to preserve their national resources, but Russia does not.
After introduction of 200-miles economic zone, there remained in the World Ocean not so many regions rich in fish, which would not be under jurisdiction of this or that state. Thus the Russian fishermen had to return to their native shores and engage in catch at pollock which until that time was considered to be uneatable, technical fish. Technical - because it was processed into fish flour and was used to feed chicken and as a fertilizer. Having become eatable it was also not popular with Russians: while it was taken from the boats and transported deep inside Russia, due to our Russian negligence, it was freezed, then defreezed several times, it acquired specific musty smell of tainted fish and was good only for cats and dogs.
Since time immemorial pollock was one of the favorite fish with the Japanese - and did all kinds of things of it - even crab sticks.
Americans, although they were never as keen fishermen as the Japanese, but to make profit out of everything - this in their American national feature. Thus their started to make profit out of pollock. Just at that time large-capacity vessels of the USA sailed into the Bering Sea, and American Association Factory Trawlers was founded which began not only to catch pollock but also advertise on the American market products made of pollock.
Americans quickly got the taste of the filleted pollock - ecologically pure food - and the Association got to be one of the top successful companies.
But the fishery regions with the introduction of 200-miles economic zones were reduced not only for American and Russians. For everybody! Including the Poles, Chinese, Koreans and for the first fishermen in the world - the Japanese... Naturally they too started to search new objects of the catch.
No wonder that these fishermen at last came to catch fish in the open part of the Bering Sea.
And no wonder that none of them went to catch fish in the open part of the Okhotsk Sea.
Because the Americans - in the Bering Sea had just begun to catch pollock and there was no competition - there was much fish. Russia had also no headaches over pollock in the Bering Sea - it could have been caught with your pants.
And in the open part of the Okhotsk Sea they did not go because they were afraid of the militant Soviet Union and its valiant Navy - everybody understood that the open part of the Okhotsk Sea - is the inner open sea of the USSR. Years pass. Situation in the world kept changing. Fearsome for many the USSR changed in helpless Union of Independent States. Food made of pollock became very popular in the USA and Europe (we should not even speak of Japan). And so came the crucial moment, when the American fishermen felt that the Poles, Japanese, South Koreans catching pollock in the open part of the Bering Sea started to hinder them - both at sea and on shore - beat down the prices at the market, what is more they started to catch that part of the Bering Sea fish, which could have been caught by Americans themselves, having by that time fish catching and fish processing capacities - 60 large-capacity vessels.
But the open part of the Bering Sea - though a rich catching region but even such all powerful state as the United States of America had no jurisdiction over it.
It was necessary to create a precedent concerning the open part of the Bering Sea which would attract attention of the American public to these waters. And not only precedent, but SOMETHING connected with the national security of the USA.
Soon they got such a chance. It is well known that in shallow waters that is close to the shore, during spawning there are formed the most powerful gathering of the pollock. We know how eager the Russian fishermen in the Okhotsk Sea to get to such gatherings, though shallow waters in the West of Kamchatka - is the prohibited zone. As much eager to get the “gold fish” in the shallow waters were fishermen, catching in the open part of the Bering Sea. Their greediness was so great that the poacher boats entered the economic zone of the USA. And they caught. Having understood that the American public knew nothing and did not want to know anything of some kind of fishing in some open sea (the same as in Russia - only legends and myths!), and nobody is interested in it, and especially government officials (bureaucrats throughout the world are the same: if anything does not concern me, I am not interested in it - and for the open part of the sea, naturally, nobody is responsible not only in a state, but in the whole world) the representatives of the American Association Factory Trawlers decided to stake everything. To be exact one of its representatives. Using his own money he rented a plane and bought the necessary photo and video equipment which fixed coordinates of the object shot - in this case a trawler - he went photohunting. He made shot of several foreign vessels, taking a catch immediately nearby the secret Navy base, located of the Aleut chain.
The scandal roared all through America. Thus the precedent was created.
But it was much for America, but little for big policy - international waters were involved.
And then - very efficiently - American diplomats turned their eyes towards the neighboring Russia. In case of Russia’s support there would be a precedent of another sort - international: two neighbor states defended the same - reserves of pollock of the Bering Sea, undermined by the unregulated catch in the undefended open part. Russian diplomats as is the usage from the time of perestroika watching the mouths of their senior brothers from the diplomatic corps, agreed with all the suggestions, not even thinking of its fatal consequences for Russia. In 1982 the fishing in the open part of the Bering Sea was banned.
You can kill two birds with one stone, suggesting to review the borders of economic zones. Why 20 and not 250 or 300 miles from the coastline. After all so many, that it would be enough to close up the “hole” in the Bering Sea. But then simultaneously “holes” in the Okhotsk Sea and Bering Sea would be closed!
Nobody thought about that - neither the Okhotsk, nor the Barents Seas were in the sphere of interests of America and “Russian Americans” from the Gorbachev - Shevarnadze Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But the Russian fishermen warned - from the open part of the Bering Sea the fleet of large capacity vessels would move to the open part of the Okhotsk Sea. On the highest level this problem was put forward by Kamchatka fisherman, USSR people’s deputy E.N. Kabanov. Nobody listened to him. And America did not ask for it...
And so it happened - the fleet of Poland, South Korea and China came to catch fish in our inner sea. Only fishermen of Japan could not do so - they were tied up for decades by fishery agreements and could not offend the neighbor.
And what is happening today? As it should have happened - the hole. I think it is clear for whom.
Convention was signed on the open part of the Bering Sea and decision was taken: NOT TO CATCH until the stock of pollock is restored.
On the open part of the Okhotsk Sea was also taken a decision: NOT TO CATCH, but to COMPENSATE to Poland, South Korea and China the catch in the open part of the Okhotsk Sea by THE CATCH EXCLUSIVELY IN THE ECONOMIC ZONE OF RUSSIA.
That is o’key, isn’t it? And now the Poles, Koreans and Chinese demand the increase of quota for their vessels in this - exclusively - economic zone of Russia from which Russian vessels will be soon excluded. And now Americans openly dream of Russian pollock.
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