181 



AFTERNOON SESSION 



Mr. DiNGELL. The subcommittee will come to order. 



This is a continuation of hearings on H.R. 6558 and H.R. 10420 and 

 similar bills, the so-called Harris-Pryor bills and the Anderson-Pelly 

 bills and on preservation of marine mammals. 



Our next witness is an old friend of the subcommittee, Mr. Donald 

 McKernan, Special Assistant to the Secretary, Department of State. 



Mr. McKernan, we are happy to welcome you back for any state- 

 ment you choose to give. 



The Chair notes that you are accompanied by two of your associates 

 and if you wish, identify them and have them sit at the table with you 

 or call on them as you desire for any statement. 



STATEMENT OF AMBASSADOR DONALD L. McKERNAN, COORDINA- 

 TOR or OCEAN AFFAIRS AND SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR FISHER- 

 IES AND WILDLIFE TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE; ACCOM- 

 PANIED BY STUART BLOW, WILLIAM SALMON, AND JAY 

 BLOWERS 



Mr. McKernan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Donald McKer- 

 nan. I am Coordinator of Ocean Affairs and Special Assistant for 

 Fisheries and Wildlife to the Secretary of State. 



With me I have Mr. Stuart Blow from my office, and Mr. William 

 Salmon and Mr. Jay Blowers from the Bureau of Scientific Affairs 

 in the Department of State. 



Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, I am pleased to have 

 the opportunity to appear before you in connection with your con- 

 sideration of various bills having to do with the protection and con- 

 servation of marine mammals. Most of these bills call for action with 

 respect to existing or new international arrangements for the conser- 

 vation of marine mammals, and the Department of State has accord- 

 ingly a very real interest in the progress of your consideration of 

 legislation in this field. 



It is safe to say that the United States has been for years a leader 

 in the development of international arrangements for the conservation 

 of living marine resources. One of the very first treaties on the sub- 

 ject—the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911— came into being largely as the 

 result of U.S. concern over the very serious decline in the populations 

 of northern fur seals. Since that time, the United States has negotiated 

 a number of treaties and agreements relating to the conservation of 

 living marine resources and has, in addition, undertaken discussions 

 and exchanges of scientific data regarding other species of interna- 

 tional concern, for example, walruses, ice seals, and polar bears. 



For the most part, our international arrangements have dealt with 

 animals which are of actual or potential economic benefit to man. The 

 basic concept imderlying these arrangements is that of conservation 

 as defined in the convention on fishing and conservation of the living 

 resources of the high seas which was adopted by the United Nations 

 Conference on the Law of the Sea, 1958, and to which the United 

 States is a party. Article 2 of that convention states : 



