-3- 



— the commission and scientific committee ensure 

 close coordination between their activities and those of the 

 International Whaling Commission and those pursuant to the 

 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic seals; 



-- the commission and scientific committee establish 

 cooperative relationships with other international inter- 

 governmental and non-governmental bodies which have responsi- 

 bilities for Antarctic marine living resources, such as FAO, 

 SCAR, and lUCN; 



-- the budgetary expenses of the commission and other 

 organs of the regime be apportioned equitably among the Con- 

 tracting Parties; 



— accession to the regime be open to states engaged 

 in research on, or harvesting of, Antarctic marine living re- 

 sources ; 



-- issues relating to the existence and nature of 

 maritime jurisdiction be treated in such fashion as to permit 

 and encourage participation in the regime by all states en- 

 gaged in research on or in harvesting of Antarctic marine 

 living resources and as to protect the position of the United 

 States regarding non-recognition of claims to territorial 

 sovereignty in Antarctica. 



B. Concepts Underlying the Proposed Action 



1, Health of the Ecosystem 



One of the purposes of the proposed conservation regime 

 is to ensure that any harvesting of Antarctic marine living 

 resources is conducted in such a fashion as to maintain the 

 health of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Maintaining the 

 health of the ecosystem implies preserving its overall pro- 

 ductivity over the long term. The structure of the system 

 should be protected by maintaining balance among component 

 populations. The resilience of the ecosystem, or its ability 

 to recover from unusual disturbances such as bad years, 

 should not be reduced. 



Given the crucial role of krill in the ecosystem, 

 care must be taken that a krill harvest does not cause 

 crashes in the populations of predators which depend on it 

 for food. Of particular concern are baleen whale populations, 

 Increases in those populations depend on reproductive cap- 

 ability and physiological condition of the animals which in 

 turn depend on the abundance of their food supply. 



