Chapter TV — International 



subject to regulation within its jurisdiction for the 

 purpose of preventing or restricting exploitation and 

 for which the Party needs the cooperation of other 

 Parties to control trade. Additions or deletions of 

 species listed on Appendices I and n require concur- 

 rence by two-thirds of the Parties voting on a listing 

 proposai. In contrast, species may be placed on 

 Appendix in by individual Parties. 



Parties to the Convention meet biennially to 

 consider, among other things, changes to the lists of 

 species on the Appendices. The Eighth Conference of 

 Parties to the Convention is scheduled to be held on 

 2-13 March 1992 in Kyoto, Japan. The Fish and 

 Wildlife Service acts as the lead agency on U.S. 

 delegations to such meetings. In preparation for the 

 conference, the Service published a Federal Register 

 notice on 7 February 1991 soliciting suggestions for 

 additions, deletions, or reclassification of species 

 listed on the Appendices. On 24 July 1991, the 

 Service published a summary of the suggested listing 

 changes for further public review before deciding 

 whether to submit any of the proposals to the Conven- 

 tion Secretariat for consideration at the upcoming 

 conference. Only one change with respect to marine 

 mammals was proposed. 



At the request of the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed 

 removing the northern elephant seal {Mirounga 

 angustirostris) from Appendix 11. In support of that 

 request, the National Marine Fisheries Service noted 

 that the northern elephant seal has reoccupied almost 

 all of its historic range and that utilization of the 

 species is restricted to the few specimens collected for 

 scientific research or public display or taken incidental 

 to commercial fishing operations. The National 

 Marine Fisheries Service also indicated that the 

 species is protected in the southern portion of its 

 range under Mexican law. While northern elephant 

 seal parts are difficult to distinguish from those of the 

 southern elephant seal {Mirounga leonina), which 

 would remain on Appendix 11, the Service stated it did 

 not believe that listing the northern elephant seal 

 under the similarity of appearance provision was 

 warranted because there is no known commercial 

 trade in the southern elephant seal. 



Other Federal activities concerning marine mam- 

 mals in 1991 also had a bearing on the Convention. 

 As discussed in the North Pacific ftir seal section of 

 Chapter E, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 decided not to pursue an Appendix II or Appendix III 

 listing of that species. Activities with respect to 

 totoaba, and efforts to enhance enforcement of trade 

 prohibitions regarding this fish species, are discussed 

 in the Gulf of California harbor porpoise section of 

 Chapter n. 



Other Parties to the Convention did not propose 

 any changes to the Appendices with respect to marine 

 mammals. At the Sixth Conference of Parties in 

 1987, The Netherlands submitted, but later withdrew, 

 a proposal to list the walrus on Appendix II. During 

 1991, the Commission was informed that the Nether- 

 lands had completed a new analysis to determine 

 whether the walrus meets the Convention's listing 

 criteria. The Netherlands concluded that current data 

 on trade in walruses are insufficient to support a 

 listing and decided not to propose an Appendix n 

 listing at the Eighth Conference of Parties. 



North Pacific Marine 

 Science Organization (PICES) 



The International Council for the Exploration of 

 the Sea (ICES) was established in 1902 to facilitate 

 development of a program of international investiga- 

 tion of the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. A 

 new constitution for the Council was established by 

 the 1964 Convention for the International Council for 

 the Exploration of the Sea. The purpose of the 

 Council, as specified in the Convention, is to promote 

 and encourage research and dissemination of informa- 

 tion concerning the living resources and other aspects 

 of the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. 



The Council has served a useful function and, in 

 the late 1970s, scientists and others involved in 

 marine research in the North Pacific began to discuss 

 the possibility of a similar organization to facilitate 

 coordination of marine and other research in the 

 North Pacific. These informal discussions led to a 

 series of formal discussions involving representatives 

 of the Govenmients of Canada, Japan, the People's 



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