JAPANESE-RUSSIAN FISHING TREATY TAKES EFFECT.

A bilateral Russian-Japanese treaty regulating fishing around the disputed Kuril Islands went into effect yesterday, Foreign Ministry officials in Moscow and Tokyo said. (Kyodo, Russian agencies, May 21) The treaty was signed on February 20 of this year after long and arduous negotiations between the two countries. (See the Monitor, January 7, February 23) The accord lays out the conditions under which Japanese boats are allowed to fish in the waters off the Russian-controlled islands. It is aimed at ending what had become a series of confrontations, several of which ended in injuries to Japanese fishermen, between Russian coastal vessels and Japanese fishing boats. The signing of the fishing agreement was seen by both sides as a small but important step in their ongoing efforts to resolve the territorial issue and to sign a peace treaty formally ending World War II.

DAGESTANI CRISIS DEFUSED.