 On August 20, 2009 United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced a moratorium on fishing the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, including the disputed waters.Randy Boswell, of "Canada.com" wrote that the disputed area covered a section of the Beaufort Sea (smaller than Israel, larger than El Salvador).He wrote that Canada had filed a "diplomatic note" with the United States in April when the US first announced plans for the moratorium.