Interim Convention on the Conservation 
of North Pacific Fur Seals 
The Interim Convention on the Conservation of North 
Pacific Fur Seals calls for cooperative research and manage- 
ment efforts by the U.S., Japan, Canada, and the USSR to 
achieve the maximum sustainable productivity of the fur seal 
resources of the North Pacific Ocean so that the fur seal 
populations can be brought to and maintained at the levels 
which will provide the greatest harvest year after year, 
with due regard to their relation to the productivity of 
other living marine resources of the area. Harvesting of 
fur seals at sea has been prohibited by agreement of the 
parties to the Convention and an average of 32,278 fur seals 
have been harvested annually in recent years -- 26,507 on 
the Pribilof Islands of the U.S. and 5,771 on the Commander 
and Robben Islands of the USSR. The Convention entered into 
force in 1957 and has been extended by three Protocols. The 
most recent extension in 1976 provided for the expiration of 
the Convention in October 1980 unless it was renegotiated or 
extended again by the parties. 
As part of the process leading to development of the 
U.S. position as to whether to renegotiate, extend, or allow 
the Convention to expire, the National Marine Fisheries 
Service issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
in July of 1979 and the Commission submitted detailed comments 
and recommendations by letter of 12 September 1979 which are 
described in its previous Annual Report. Based upon the 
comments received on the DEIS and the result of informal 
discussions with representatives of other parties to the 
Convention, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration recommended to the Department of 
State on 8 January 1980 that the Convention be extended by 
protocol for a period of four years with only minor modifica- 
tion to recognize the extended fisheries jurisdiction of the 
parties. The Administrator noted that: the result of 
consultations with the other parties indicated that re- 
negotiation of the Convention so as to achieve significant 
alterations of the arrangement was not a realistic option; 
scientific data indicate that a significant portion of the 
fur seal population migrates through waters beyond U.S. 
jurisdiction and U.S. domestic legislation would therefore 
not be adequate to protect the population throughout its 
range; and pelagic sealing may be resumed by some parties if 
the Convention were allowed to expire. The Administrator 
did recommend, however, that efforts be continued to incorporate 
the concept of optimum sustainable population into the 
Convention and that the U.S. propose the establishment by 
the North Pacific Fur Seal Commission of an international 
