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I. PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTION 



A. Description 



The proposed Federal action is the negotiation of a 

 regime to conserve Antarctic marine living resources through 

 conclusion of an international agreement. The international 

 agreement, anticipated to be a treaty, would set forth the 

 objectives of the regime and provide the obligations, func- 

 tions and machinery necessary to fulfill them. 



The international agreement would provide that: 



-- the purpose of the regime to be the conservation, 

 including rational utilization, of Antarctic marine living 

 resources ; 



-- the regime apply to the populations of all living 

 resources of the Antarctic marine ecosystem, defined as all 

 species, including birds, found in marine areas south of the 

 Antarctic Convergence, and their relations with each other and 

 with their physical environment; 



— the regime not provide for direct regulation of 

 whales and seals already regulated by the International Whal- 

 ing Convention and the Convention for the Conservation of 

 Antarctic Seals; 



-- any harvesting of Antarctic marine living resources 

 be conducted in accordance with a conservation standard, in- 

 corporating an ecosystem approach, and reflecting the follow- 

 ing elements: 



a) maintenance of populations or species of 

 Antarctic marine living resources at 

 levels which offer maximum annual produc- 

 tion on a continuing basis; 



b) maintenance of the balance among the 

 species composing the Antaractic marine 

 ecosystem, taking into account the rela- 

 tionships between harvested and non- 

 harvested species; 



c) prevention of irreversible changes in 

 the Antarctic marine ecosystem. 



