CHAPTER III 



INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION 



AND CONSERVATION 



Section 108 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act directs 

 that the Departments of Commerce, the Interior, and State, in 

 consultation with the Commission, seek to further the 

 protection and conservation of marine mammals under existing 

 international agreements and take such initiatives as may be 

 necessary to negotiate additional agreements required to 

 achieve the purposes of the Act. 



In addition, Section 202 of the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act directs that the Marine Mammal Commission recommend to 

 the Secretary of State, and other Federal officials, appropriate 

 policies regarding existing international arrangements for 

 the protection and conservation of marine mammals . 



The Commission's activities in 1982 with respect to 

 conservation and protection of marine mammals in the Southern 

 Ocean, the International Whaling Commission, the Interim 

 Convention on Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals, and 

 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 

 of Wild Fauna and Flora are discussed below. 



Conservation and Protection of Marine 

 Mammals in the Southern Ocean 



At least thirteen species of seals and whales inhabit 

 or migrate through the Southern Ocean, the seas surrounding 

 Antarctica. Although unregulated or poorly regulated sealing 

 and whaling brought several of these species to near-extinction, 

 the end of commercial sealing and improved regulation of 

 whaling under the International Whaling Commission make 

 threats from comraercial exploitation no longer as serious as 

 they once were. However, new threats have arisen. These 

 are the developing fisheries, particularly the, fishery for 

 Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) , and growing interest in 

 possible offshore oil and gas resources. 



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