U.S. Halves Soviet Fishing Quota Over Whaling

In the first action of its kind, the Reagan Administration announced Wednesday that it will cut in half the Soviet Union’s fishing allocation in U.S. waters this year because the Soviets have refused to stop killing minke whales.

The action stems from mandates in U.S. law and a whaling limit imposed by the International Whaling Commission. Coming in the wake of a recent court decision that ordered the United States to impose similar penalties against Japan, it is a significant victory for conservationists.

The sanctions against the Soviets would mean a loss this year of about 18,000 metric tons of fish, valued at $9 million. The Soviets fish mainly in the North Pacific for pollock and sole, according to the Commerce Department.

Talks With Soviets

The government move came on the same day the Commerce Department announced that Secretary Malcolm Baldrige will meet in May with Soviet officials in the first high-level discussion of U.S.-Soviet trade matters since 1978. That meeting will focus on expanding U.S. trade with the Soviets in a variety of areas, including food processing, consumer goods, chemicals, pulp and paper and pollution control equipment.

Wednesday’s actions, which also allow the President to cut off fish imports from the Soviet Union, could prove an irritant to these efforts. The Commerce Department said the Soviet Union currently exports $17 million in fish products--mostly frozen crab--to this country.

The Soviets had been warned “well in advance” that the United States would impose the sanctions, said A. Joseph LaCovey, spokesman for the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Despite that warning, LaCovey said, the Soviets harvested 2,403 Southern Hemisphere minke whales during the five months ending in March, exceeding their quota of 1,941 for the season. Japan provides the Soviets with their largest market for the whales, industry officials said.

Because the Soviet Union and Japan were in violation of the International Whaling Commission’s 1981 moratorium, they had been prime targets of conservationists, who filed suit against Japan to force it to stop killing sperm whales.

In their suit, 12 groups and one individual cited a 1979 U.S. law requiring that the United States “certify” nations that violate the whaling moratorium. The law requires violating nations to lose at least half of their fishing allocation within 200 miles of U.S. shores during the first year and all their quota after that unless they abide by the moratorium.

On March 5, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey ordered the U.S. government to cut Japan’s fishing allotment in half. The U.S. government appealed the ruling, which has been stayed pending the outcome of the appeal.

However, the government took action against the Soviet Union without being ordered to do so.