The Great Tuna War

Ostensibly to protect its deep-sea fishery from the depredations of foreign commercial fleets, Ecuador claims that its territorial waters extend 200 miles offshore--something of a stretch beyond the usual twelve-mile limit. Yanqni tuna fishermen have "intruded" regularly over the years, sometimes paying the Ecuadoreans a license fee, sometimes not. Without a license, the American boats run the risk of seizure by the Ecuadorean navy. (More than half of Ecuador's 21 ships, as it happens, were supplied by the U.S.) Lately the Ecuadoreans have been getting more aggressive: since Jan. 11 they have seized 17 U.S. fishing boats, three of them last week.

The Americans usually manage to get their boats back, after paying fines that have ranged as high as $86,000. Since the U.S. Government reimburses the fishermen, the situation would be tolerable, if mildly embarrassing, except that Ecuador has now managed to turn the whole Ustinovian affair into a diplomatic confrontation. Uncle Sam, to retaliate against Ecuador, cut off military aid, which came to $4,500,000 last year. "Aggression!" exclaimed Ecuador, though there seemed something faintly odd in using that particular word to describe cutting off military supplies. The Ecuadoreans claim, however, that such sanctions violate the Organization of American States charter by applying improper economic pressure. Despite Washington's objections, the OAS voted 22 to 0 to convene a foreign ministers' meeting last weekend on the dispute. (The U.S. abstained in the voting.) Whatever happens, the U.S. has finally offered to join Ecuador in submitting the matter to the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.