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II. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED ACTION 



Negotiation of the proposed conservation regime may- 

 be viewed as one point on a continuum of possible ap- 

 proaches to Antarctic marine living resources. Six gen- 

 eral options can be identified on this continuum. One of 

 these includes the proposed action, the other five repre- 

 sent alternatives to it. They range from a no regime 

 option to seeking a ban on all harvesting, and can be de- 

 scribed as follows : 



1. No action to seek to conserve Antarctic marine 

 living resources . 



2. National action to conserve Antarctic marine 

 living resources, with coordination among nations taking 

 such action. 



3. Negotiation of an international agreement setting 

 forth the obligations and means to collect, exchange and 

 analyze data on Antarctic marine living resources, coupled 

 with a commitment to later establishment of a mechanism to 

 develop and implement necessary conservation measures. 



4. Negotiation of an international agreement estab- 

 lishing a complete conservation regime, setting forth 



the objectives of the regime and providing the obligations, 

 functions and machinery necessary to fulfill them. 



5. Negotiation of an international agreement estab- 

 lishing a complete conservation regime and imposing from 

 the beginning specific conservation measures or a moratori- 

 um on harvesting until conservation measures are developed. 



6. Negotiation of an international agreement flatly 

 prohibiting all harvesting of Antarctic marine living 

 resources . 



The proposed federal action under consideration is 

 the fourth alternative. The implications of the six 

 alternatives are discussed below. 



A. No Action 



This alternative reflects an assumption that no regu- 

 lation of the harvesting of Antarctic marine living resources 

 is necessary, other than that which takes place or will take 

 place under the International Whaling Convention or the 

 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals. There 

 is, for instance, no present information that U.S. fishermen 



