200 



that sometimes these careful predictions may be 

 askew. Successful monitoring programs which 

 afford early detection of changes relevant to 

 management strategies are ultimately highly 

 cost effective. These programs allow us to 

 avoid costly crisis oriented management. 46 



The National Audobon Society expressed the same concern. 



Elvis Stahr testified for the Society that: 



There is a most serious need to provide greater 

 long-term protection to the marine environment 

 of the Bering Sea and to the nationally and 

 internationally significant marine bird 

 colonies on the Pribilof Islands. A first step 

 has been the inclusion of critical portions of 

 the Pribilofs in the Alaska Maritime National 

 Wildlife Refuge created by the Alaska National 

 Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980. 



We urge your Committee to explore ways in which 

 existing international agreements can be 

 strengthened, and new agreement forged with 

 Pacific rim countries, to better protect marine 

 waters of the Bering Sea from dangerous 

 pollution and overutilization of resources, 

 particularly fish on which marine birds and 

 mammals rely for sustenance. 47 



These concerns were ultimately reflected in the 

 Proclamation signed by the President in support of the 1980 

 Protocol. President Reagan specified in the 1981 Proclamation 

 that studies were required on the relationship between the 

 size of the fur seal harvest and health of the Bering Sea 

 ecosystem and that the impact of alternative forms of 



46 Id. at 60. 

 47 Id. at 59. 



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