MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



plan proposed by the United States to ensure that 

 activities carried out by other member nations do not 

 interfere with long-term monitoring studies being done 

 at Seal Island. 



Although substantial progress has been made in 

 implementing the provisions of the Convention on the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, 

 the Marine Mammal Commission is concerned that 

 the actions taken to date may be insufficient to ensure 

 that new fisheries, and the existing fishery for Antarc- 

 tic krill, do not pose threats to marine mammals and 

 other components of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. 

 Therefore, in 1992, the Commission, in consultation 

 with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, will under- 

 take a comprehensive review of past and ongoing 

 efforts to implement the Convention. 



U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources 

 Research Program 



The Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention 

 Act of 1984 established the domestic authority neces- 

 sary for the United States to implement the Conven- 

 tion on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living 

 Resources. Among other things, the Act directs that 

 the National Science Foundation continue to support 

 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 Com- 

 mission, prepare, implement, and annually update a 

 plan for directed research necessary to effectively 

 implement the Convention. In response to this 

 directive, the National Marine Fisheries Service has 

 prepared and begun implementing a directed Research 

 Plan. The plan was developed in consultation with 

 the National Science Foundation, the Marine Mammal 

 Commission, other Federal agencies, knowledgeable 

 scientists in the United States and abroad, representa- 

 tives of the U.S. fishing industry, and representatives 

 of interested U.S. environmental groups.* 



In 1991, scientists from and supported by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service conducted research 

 in support of the ecosystem monitoring program 

 described above. Studies of land-based krill predators 



(fur seals, Adelie penguins, and other seals and 

 seabirds) were conducted at Seal Island, off the 

 northwest coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Studies of 

 physical oceanography, phytoplankton, krill, and 

 fishes were carried out aboard the NOAA ship Survey- 

 or in the eastern Bransfield Strait and around Elephant 

 Island. These studies are to be continued in 1992. 



As noted in the Commission's previous Annual 

 Report, the value of basic and directed research being 

 conducted or supported by the National Science 

 Foundation and the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 was noted during the Marine Mammal Commission- 

 sponsored workshop held in December 1990 to assess 

 uncertainties and research needs regarding the Bering 

 Sea and Southern Ocean ecosystems (see Chapter 

 VII). The workshop noted, however, that uncertain- 

 ties about funding and available ship support were 

 preventing effective long-term planning and impairing 

 the ability of the United States to influence and 

 participate in the coordinated, multi-national research 

 programs necessary to give effect to the Convention 

 for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living 

 Resources. The Commission noted this in its 25 July 

 1991 letter transmitting the workshop report to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service. The Commission 

 echoed the workshop recommendation that the Service 

 seek funding and ship commitments, at least two years 

 in advance and for periods of at least three to five 

 years, to permit better long-term planning and coordi- 

 nation with the basic research programs being sup- 

 ported by the National Science Foundation and the 

 directed research programs being carried out by other 

 members of the Commission and Scientific Committee 

 for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living 

 Resources. 



Environmental Impact Assessment 



At the XrVdi Consultative Meeting, in October 

 1987, the representatives of the Antarctic Treaty 

 Consultative Parties adopted a recommendation calling 

 upon their governments to evaluate, during the plan- 

 ning process, the possible environmental impacts of 

 scientific research programs and their associated 

 logistic support operations in the Antarctic. In 

 response to this recommendation and Executive Order 

 12114 (requiring assessment of the possible environ- 

 mental effects of major Federal actions abroad), the 



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