group of experts to study the concept of optimum sustainable 
population and its relation to fur seal conservation. The 
Administrator also recommended that the U.S. explore with the 
other parties the matter of taking fur seals incidental to 
commercial fishing operations. 
On 14 May 1980, the Commission wrote to the National 
Marine Fisheries Service noting that the Commission supported 
the proposed extension of the Convention based largely upon 
its judgement that the available information and analyses were 
insufficient to determine how the residents of the Pribilof 
Islands, the fur seals, and other living resources of the 
Bering Sea ecosystem, and the United States' efforts to 
conserve those resources would be affected by termination or 
substantial revision of the Convention. In order to avoid a 
Similar dilemma when the proposed four-year extension expires, 
the Commission recommended that the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration/National Marine Fisheries Service, 
in consultation with the Department of State, Department of 
the Interior, representatives of the residents of the Pribilof 
Islands, and such other Federal and state agencies and groups 
as may be appropriate, take immediate steps to: (1) complete 
the analysis of existing research data collected from fur 
seals at sea, particularly as they relate to feeding habits, 
food requirements, and at-sea distribution of various age/sex 
classes of fur seals; (2) determine and evaluate the possible 
effects on fur seals of past, current, and proposed fisheries 
activities in the Bering Sea; (3) determine the optimum 
sustainable population(s) of fur seals; (4) identify possible 
additional or alternative sources of income for the residents 
of the Pribilof Islands and evaluate the effects of those 
alternatives on those people, the fur. seals, and the other 
species that are components of the Bering Sea ecosystem; 
(5) determine the likelihood that_ pelagic sealing would be 
resumed if the Convention were terminated and the likelihood 
of successfully negotiating with the other parties to effectively 
ban pelagic sealing if the Convention were terminated as well 
as the effects, if any, of termination or substantial revision 
of the Convention on United States' efforts to conserve other 
species; (6) determine the nature and costs of the research 
programs that would be necessary in conjunction with the 
extended Convention and the alternative arrangements described 
above; and (7) evaluate the relative merits of extending, 
renegotiating, or terminating the Interim Convention. The 
Commission also asked that the Service provide a schedule 
for the conduct and completion of the recommended studies 
and analyses. 
The National Marine Fisheries Service responded to the 
Commission's recommendations by letter of 4 November 1980 
providing information on current and planned scientific 
