2. CONVENTION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ANT- 

 ARCTIC SEALS, JUNE 1, 1972. Not in Force'' 



Done at London^ February 3-11^ 1972; Opened for signature June i, 

 1972; Signed on behalf of the United States June 28, 1972. 



The Contracting Parties, 



Recalling the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic 

 Fauna and Flora, adopted under the Antarctic Treaty signed at Wash- 

 ington on 1 December 1959 ; 



Recognizing the general concern about the vulnerability of Ant- 

 arctic seals to commercial exploitation and the consequent need for 

 effective conservation measures ; 



Recognizing that the stocks of Antarctic seals are an important liv- 

 ing resource in the marine environment which requires an interna- 

 tional agreement for its effective conservation ; 



Recognizing that this resource should not be depleted by over-ex- 

 ploitation, and hence that any harvesting should be regulated so as not 

 to exceed the levels of the optimum sustainable yield; 



Recognizing that in order to improve scientific knowledge and so 

 place exploitation on a rational basis, every effort should be made both 

 to encourage biological and other research on Antarctic seal popula- 

 tions and to gain information from such research and from the sta- 

 tistics of future sealing operations, so that further suitable regulations 

 may be formulated ; 



Noting that the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the 

 International Council of Scientific Unions (SCAR) is willing to 

 carry out the tasks requested of it in this Convention ; 



Desiring to promote and achieve the objectives of protection, sci- 

 entific study and rational use of Antarctic seals, and to maintain a 

 satisfactory balance within the ecological system, 



Have agreed as follows : 



[Reproduced from the text provided by the U.S. Department of State. 



[Delegations from the signatories of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 — Argentina, Australia, 

 Belgium, Chile, France,, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Union of Soviet Social- 

 ist Republics, United States — participated In a conference In London from February 3-11, 

 1972. which produced the agreed text of the convention. 



[The convention will be open for signature from June 1 to December 31, 1972. 



[Measures adopted under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 protect seals and other animals 

 on land and Ice shelves south of 60° south latitude but provide no protection to seals In the 

 water and on sea Ice. The new convention Is Intended to repair this omission and to establish 

 conservation measures In advance of the possible development of commercial sealing In the 

 area. 



[The statements of Chile and the United States concerning the convention, appended to 

 the Final Act of the Conference on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals, appear at I.L.M. 

 page 417.] See w/rflj p. 110. 



* Source: International Legal Materials, v. 11, No. 2, March 1972: 251-261, 417. 



Ratified hy: Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom, as of Dec. '81, 1974. (Entry into 

 force requires ratification by seven nations. 



(102) 



