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1893, U.S./U.K., Arb.-K, Bering Sea Sealing (Award)
Behring Sea arbitration; Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration constituted under Article 1 of the treaty concluded at Washington on the 29th February
1892 between Her Britannic Majesty and the United States of America: n.a., 15p, United States, No.10 (1893), London, pr. for HMSO by Harrison & Sons,
1893. (Lacks TOC & index. In French and English versions; the latter starting on p. 8. The underlying controversy being arbitrated in this case arose
from a fishery dispute between the U.S. and the U.K. in the Pribilof Islands off the coast of Alaska. In 1870 the U.S., claiming territorial rights,
leased the exclusive right to kill seals on or near the islands to an Alaskan company under conditions meant to ensure the preservation of the seal
population. Great Britain protested the U.S. exclusion of its citizens from the sealing region, particularly on the grounds that when Russia, the prior
sovereign of the islands, had attempted to assert such claims, the U.S. had joined the U.K. in protest. An arbitration of the dispute was agreed to by
treaty, and the matter was brought before a commission sitting in Paris. The arbitration panel was composed of two members each from the U.S. and
U.K., along with three members appointed by the president of France, the king of Italy, and the king of Norway & Sweden. The majority award on all five
points specifically submitted to the Tribunal by the treaty was in favor of the U.K. position. It is noteworthy that on some points one of the American
members of the panel, Justice Harlan, provided the decisive vote. The question of damages having been reserved for later decision, it was eventually
settled in 1896 by a mixed commission appointed by the U.K. and U.S. That commission awarded the British sealers $473,151.26; an amount equal to
roughly 11.3-million in 1912 dollars. See also the ten other documents relevant to this case offered on this site. The most significant issue decided by
the arbitration panel in this case was the right of a single power to outlaw pelagic, i.e., open water, exploitation of a wildlife population in the
interest of species protection. The Tribunal, probably correctly, determined that such restraints required the authority of an international treaty. In
any event, the U.S. achieved its goals 17 years later when it secured the passage of an international treaty for the preservation and protection of fur
seals in the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911. The heroes of that successful effort were the environmentalist Henry Wood Elliott and U.S.
Secretary of State John Hay.)
Title:   Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration : constituted under Article I of the treaty concluded at Washington on the 29th February, 1892, between Her Britannic Majesty and the United States of America / presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, August 1893.
OCLC Number:   768287755
Available Volumes
NameFiche CountOnlinePaper Backup
Vol. 1YesNo