salmon migrates through the rivers and lakes of different coastal states to their spawning grounds. In some areas the issue of foreign fleets maximizing their catches on the high seas was replaced by coastal fisheries trying to do the same. There is a need for the implementation of effective policies to manage fisheries. History In 1945, there were two United States presidential proclamations called the "Truman Proclamations". One was about how to manage the continental shelf and the other about fisheries. This caused a fast erosion of the concept "freedom of the seas" (all countries can freely use the oceans for navigation and fishing). Thereafter, many countries claimed resource rights with a maximum of 200 nautical miles. The Canadian coastal areas in the Pacific and Atlantic contain among the richest fish resources in the world. In 1973 Canada's east coast territorial sea and fishing zones was . Thanks to the extension to 200 nautical miles it increased to . This encompassed 96% of the total fish catch by Canadian and foreign fishing fleets in the Atlantic zone of Canada. The marine life and natural resources in the Atlantic zone of Canada caused many foreign fishing vessels to exploit it. Since 1958 there was a dramatic increase of vessels from East Europe who joined West Europeans while the Canadian fishing fleet remained a stable size. The Canadian and foreign fish catches were in danger due to significant stock declines since the early '70s. The International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF) which existed since the 1940s could not prevent the rapid decline of fish stock. In 1973, Canada participated in the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. UNCLOS became effective since 16 November 1982. The Exclusive Economic Zone section of UNCLOS is described in Part V. It provides a "comprehensive framework for contemporary uses of the sea." It is the result of 15 years of negotiations which were initiated by the United Nations Seabed Committee and then at UNCLOS III. Before the 200 nautical mile limit was accepted only 4% of the fish catch occurred outside the limit off Canada's Atlantic coast by Canadian and all foreign fleets. In the Pacific, the Canadian territorial sea and fishing zones expanded from to . The EEZ encompass all waters seaward of the territorial sea limits to a distance of 200 nautical miles. All countries still have numerous high