202 



." What information has been developed by your Department regarding the 

 killing of marine mammals in international waters by nations which are not 

 IKirties to the existing international agreements? 



Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated. 



Sincerely, ^ ^ 



John D. Dingexl, 



Chairman, Subcammittee on Fisheries 



and Wildlife Conservation. 



Department of State 

 Washington, D.C., September ^0, 1971. 



Hon. John D. Dingell, 



Chairman, Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation, Committee on 

 Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chahixian : The Secretary has asked me to reply to your letter of 

 September 3 regarding the hearings by your Subcommittee on several bills 

 dealing with the protection of marine mammals. 



Your letter posed several questions with resi)ect to the activities of the Depart- 

 ment and the International Whaling Commission regarding marine mammals. 

 Responses to these questions appear below in the same order as they appear in 

 your letter. 



1. Efforts toward international arrangements for protection of various marine 

 mammals 



As a matter of general interest under this item, the draft of a wildlife con- 

 servation treaty which has been prepared by ithe International Union for the 

 Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( lUCN ) as a working document 

 for the conference to be convened at Washington in April. 1972, would protect all 

 sirenia (listed on Api>endix I of the draft) and polar bears, sea otters, Guadelupe 

 fur seals and walruses (listed on Appendix II) . 



Walruses. — At the time of the meeting of the North Pacific Fur Seal Commis- 

 sion in Ottawa in 1970, representatives of the United States and the Soviet Union, 

 with Japanese and Canadian observers present, discussed the conservation of 

 walruses and ice seals and agreed to exchange information on these animals, 

 including population figures, kill statistics and published scientific and technical 

 papers. Agreement was also reached on holding annual discussions on ice seals 

 and walruses in conjunction with future annual Fur Seal Commission meetings. 

 These discussions are aimed at determining whether more formal arrangement, 

 including an international agreement, as appropriate, are required in order to 

 ensiire the conservation of the animals. 



Seals, sea lions and sea elephants. — In addition to the above mention of ice- 

 dwelling seals, the International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fish- 

 eries, to which the United States is a party, provides for ithe investigation, 

 protection and conservation of harp and hood seals in the Convention area. These 

 seals are taken off the eastern shores of Canada, and United States nationals do 

 not participate in the hunt. In addition, a draft Antartic sealing convention has 

 been prepared by the Antartic Treaty states, including the United States, and 

 will be negotiated at a meeting expected to be called by the Grovernment of the 

 United Kingdom next spring. It would prohibit pelagic sealing south of 60 

 degrees south latitude, protecting six species — crabeater seals, leopard seals, 

 "Weddell seals, Ross seals, elephant seal and fur seals of the genus Arctnccphalus. 



Polar bears. — The first International Scientific Meeting on Polar Bears w^s 

 held at Fairbanks. Ala.ska in 1965. A Polar Bear Group of Research Specialists 

 was established (under the lUCN) : this Groun meets from time to time to dis- 

 cuss research activities. The latest meeting was in February, 1970. The United 

 States. Canada, Denmark. Norway and the Soviet Union are represented in the 

 Group. As noted above, polar bears are on Appendix II of the lUCN draft. 



Sea otters. — This si>ecies is consideretl to be a resident species and is either 

 protected or regulated by all states of 'the United States in which found. As noted 

 above, sea otters are on Appendix II of the lUCN draft. 



2. Disrussiovs in conjunction ivith planning for the 1972 Stockholm Conference. 

 There have been as yet no intergovernmental discussions specifically on this 



subject. However, the subject of "the Environmental Aspects of Natural Re- 

 sources Management" constitutes one of the four major tonical areas around 

 which the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is being 



