B-5 



At that Ninth Meeting the United States, which suppor- 

 ted Recommendation IX-2, set forth preliminary views on a 

 regime to conserve Antarctic living resources in the general 

 statement made by Ambassador Brewster. We made five points 

 with regard to the development of a conservation arrangement 

 which, as we stated, is required: 



First, that such a conservation arrangement be directed 

 to fishery resources, and not applied to species already regu- 

 lated pursuant to existing international agreements — i.e. 

 whales pursuant to the IWC, or seals pursuant to the Convention 

 for the Conservation of the Antarctic Seals — when it comes 

 into force — provided that such arrangements take into account 

 the relationship of such target species to other species and to 

 the Antarctic ecosystem as a whole. 



Secondly, we made the point that such a conservation ar- 

 rangement should provide for effective conservation of the 

 species that it covers, throughout their entire range. 



Third, that such an arrangement should provide for and en- 

 courage participation by all interested states. 



Fourthly, that it should provide for an institutional mech- 

 anism, a separate institutional mechanism which would both de- 

 velop and implement conservation measures themselves and provide 

 for the necessary collection and analysis of data which would 

 provide the basis for effective conservation measures. 



Finally, we stated the view that such a conservation ar- 

 rangement should provide for effective enforcement to insure 

 compliance with conservation measures. 



Now, following the Ninth Consultative Meeting, we stand on 

 the verge of opening negotiations on the details of a conserva- 

 tion regime — such a negotiation will begin at the end of Feb- 

 ruary in Canberra. We are beginning the process of developing 

 our specific positions -- our policies on such a regime — 

 and it is in that context that this meeting is taking place. 

 It is in that context that we are moving to develop a draft 

 Environmental Impact Statement and taking a number of actions 

 to insure that we get our own house in order in the federal 

 government and that we have the views of the interested public 

 in trying, in this case, to develop policy in as rational and 

 as open a fashion as we can. 



Having said that, I turn it back to you. Sir. 



