of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine 

 Living Resources. In 1988, the Commission will consider and 

 provide advice, as appropriate, to the Department of State, 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Science 

 Foundation on steps needed to facilitate development and imple- 

 mentation of an effective monitoring program and conservation 

 strategy for the Antarctic marine ecosystem. 



The U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Research Program 



The Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 

 1984 establishes the domestic authority necessary for the 

 United States to implement the Convention for the Conservation 

 of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Among other things, 

 the Act directs that the National Science Foundation continue 

 support of basic marine research in the Antarctic and that 

 the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary 

 of State, the Director of the National Science Foundation, 

 and appropriate officials of other Federal agencies, such as 

 the Marine Mammal Commission, prepare, implement, and annually 

 update a plan for directed research necessary to effectively 

 implement the Convention. 



In response to the Act's directive, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service has prepared, adopted, and begun to imple- 

 ment a plan for directed marine living resource research in 

 the Southern Ocean. The plan was developed in consultation 

 with the National Science Foundation, the Marine Mammal Commis- 

 sion, other Federal agencies, knowledgeable scientists in the 

 United States and abroad, and representatives of the U.S. 

 fishing industry and public interest groups. 5 The Service 

 received a $2 million supplement to its Fiscal Year 1987 budget 

 appropriation to begin implementing the program. Ship support 

 is a critical limiting factor and, to make the best possible 

 use of the available funding, the Service arranged to carry 

 out three research cruises in 1986-1987 on a cost-sharing 

 basis aboard a Polish research vessel, the Profesor Siedlecki. 



The preliminary results of the three research cruises 

 and an update of the National Marine Fisheries Service's Program 

 Development Plan were reviewed during the previously mentioned 

 meeting of the ad hoc U.S. Scientific Working Group on the 



5 Details of the National Marine Fisheries Service's 

 Antarctic Marine Living Resources Research Program can be 

 obtained from Michael F. Tillman, Ph.D., AMLR Program Manager, 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, 

 N.W. , Washington, D.C. 20235; or Kenneth Sherman, Ph.D., 

 Director, Narragansett Laboratory, Northeast Fisheries Center, 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, South Ferry Road, Narragan- 

 sett, Rhode Island 02882-1199. 



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