-6- 



term harvesting below the rates which technologically 

 are possible, in order to protect the biology of the 

 system. Since unregulated harvesting would tend to 

 maximize yields in the near future to the detriment of 

 the long term productivity of Antarctic waters, a treaty 

 or regime for long term conservation is needed. 



3. Management Options 



The proposed conservation regime will cover all species 

 of the Antarctic ecosystem except whales which are already 

 covered by the International Whaling Convention and seals 

 south of 60°S latitude which will fall under the Convention 

 for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals now that it is 

 in force. The proposed regime will undertake management 

 of the ecosystem as a whole, i.e. all species together, in 

 cooperation with the bodies governing sealing and whaling. 

 This management approach will be much more effective in 

 maintaining the health of the ecosystem than would be man- 

 agement of the krill population alone. A single species 

 management approach for krill entails a risk of endangering 

 populations of other species which are dependent on krill 

 for food. In addition, it would lack inform.ation on krill 

 losses to predation which will be dependent on the sizes of 

 predator populations. It is possible to undertake an eco- 

 system level approach to resource management in the Antarctic 

 because the ecosystem is relatively simple and the food 

 relationships and interactions among species are understood. 



Similarly a separate maximum sustainable yield (MSY) 

 determination of potential harvest for each species of 

 commercial interest in Antarctic waters would probably 

 overestimate the total sustainable harvest because of the 

 close interactions among the potentially harvestable 

 resources. Such an approach would not be compatible with 

 maintaining balance among populations or long term pro- 

 ductivity of the ecosystem. Instead the proposed federal 

 action will incorporate an ecosystem management approach 

 in which management goals will include maintaining the 

 long term productivity of the total system and considering 

 balances among the different resource populations. 



The Antarctic marine ecosystem is defined biologically 

 by species distributions south of the Antarctic Convergence. 

 All waters between the continent and the Convergence are 

 part of the ecosystem. The proposed conservation regime 

 already specifies all waters south of the Convergence as 

 the geographic region to be covered. 



One alternative would be an agreement on conservation 

 of resources south of 60°S latitude corresponding to the 

 region covered by the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention 



