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Final environmental impact statement on the negotiation of a regime for conservation of Antarctic marine living resources PDF

1978·13.7 MB·English
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Preview Final environmental impact statement on the negotiation of a regime for conservation of Antarctic marine living resources

SHI^ U.S. Dept. of- 1 Jun i^^6 ^^4TES O^ Final Environmental Statement Impact a for Possible Regime Conservation for of Antarctic Marine Living Resources June 1978 30°,W W 60° W 90° 120''W 120°E \ ion DEPARTMENT OF STATE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON THE NEGOTIATION OF A REGIME FOR CONSERVATION OF ANTARCTIC MARINE LIVING RESOURCES June 1978 /-» 3- 3- Woods CD i:-.;: ^.„^ano;iraphic rD-=l insutuiion m SUMMARY STATEMENT TYPE Final Environmental Impact Statement : PREPARED BY: Department of State (Attention: Mr. William Mansfield, III Office of Environmental Affairs (Room 7820) Department of State Washington, D. C. 20520) 1. Type of Action: Negotiation of a treaty 2. Brief Description of Proposed Action: The United States will participate in the negotiation of a regime to conserve Antarctic marine living resources. All living resources in waters south of the Antarctic Convergence, except whales and except seals south of 60 degrees south latitude, are affected. The purpose of the regime would be to ensure that any harvesting of Antarctic marine living resources take place in accordance with sound conservation principles. There are no present or proposed commercial fishing operations by the United States in Antarctic waters. 3. Summary of Environmental Impacts and Adverse Environ- mental Effects: Commercial harvesting will result in the continuing and increasing removal of fish and krill from Antarctic waters. Future harvesting may include squid, birds and seals as well. It is anticipated that krill will be the most heavily exploited resource. Populations of organisms which feed on krill and are themselves potentially harvest- able resources will be reduced as krill availability de- clines due to harvesting. The recovery rate of protected baleen whale species may be slowed. Under the proposed conservation regime, harvesting would be regulated to minimize the impact on the Antarctic ecosystem. The adverse impacts of a controlled harvest would be consider- ably less than impacts of uncontrolled harvesting which is anticipated in the absence of an international agree- ment on a conservation regime. Increased harvesting will increase shipping traffic in the Antarctic region. Ship or shore based factory facilities may cause local pollu- tion problems. Increasing human activity will increase disturbance of the Antarctic marine ecosystem which is of 1.1 scientific interest in part because it is the least dis- turbed of marine habitats. The proposed conservation regime, if effective, will moderate adverse environmental impacts in accordance with the objective of maintaining the health and long term productivity of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. 4. Summary of Major Alternatives Considered: Alternatives to the proposed negotiation of a complete conservation regime are: (a) to seek no action to conserve Antarctic living resources, (b) to pursue national action for conservation of Antarctic resources with coordination among nations, (c) to negotiate an international agreement to collect, exchange and analyze data on the Antarctic ecosystem with a commitment to later establishment of a conservation regime, (d) negotiation of a conservation regime, plus imposition of specific conservation measures in the language of the agreement or imposition of a mora- torium on harvesting until such measures are developed, and (e) to negotiate an agreement prohibiting all harvest- ing of living resources in Antarctic waters. 5. Agencies and Parties from Which Comments Have Been Requested; Comments on the draft statement were received from the following: Federal agencies and Offices ; U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Central Intelligence Agency Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Council on Environmental Quality Department of Energy Department of the Interior Marine Mammal Commission National Science Foundation Department of Transportation U.S. Coast Guard XXX Private Organizations ; American Cetacean Society, Orange County, Ca. Chapter Center for Law and Social Policy Committee for Humane Legislation, Inc. International Institute for Environment and Development Monitor (Comments endorsed by: Society for Animal Protection Legislation Animal Welfare Institute Humane Society of the United States International Fund for Animal Relief Rare Animal Relief Effort Washington Humane Society International Private Protection League Fund for Animals Defenders of Wildlife Sierra Club Let Live) National Audubon Society New York Zoological Society Individual Comments : David G. Ainley, Ph.D., Point Reyes Bird Observatory J.R. Beddington, University of York, England Hugh H. DeWitt, University of Maine M.D. McWhinnie, Ph.D., DePaul University Donald A. Scott, Oceanographic Services, Inc. Drs. Rudiger Wolfrum and Frederick S. Tipson, University of Virginia 6. Date Draft Statement made available: February 1, 1978 Date Final Statement made available: June 17, 1978 7. Preparation: The draft and final environmental impact statements were prepared by Katherine A. Green, Ph.D. in cooperation with officials of the Department of State, IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary Sheet i Table of Contents iv List of Figures vii List of Tables vii List of Appendices viii I. PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTION 1 A. Description 1 ... B. Concepts Underlying the Proposed Action 3 1. Health of the Ecosystem 3 2. Conservation Objectives 4 3. Management Options 6 II. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED ACTION 9 A. No Action 9 B. National Action 10 C. Negotiation of an International Agreement for Collection, Exchange and Analysis of Data 11 D. Negotiation of an International Agreement Establishing a Complete Conservation Regime 12 E. Negotiation of an International Agreement Establishing Specific Conservation Measures or a Temporary Moratorium 13 F. A Total Ban on Harvesting 14 G. Area Covered by the Regime 15 V III. RELATIONSHIP OF THE PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTION TO INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ANTARCTIC ENVIRONMENT 16 A. Agreements Pertaining to the Antarctic Region 16 B. Agreements Pertaining to the Marine Environment 16 C. Fisheries Bodies 16 IV. RELATIONSHIP OF THE PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTION TO DOMESTIC LEGISLATION WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ANTARCTIC ENVIRONMENT 19 V. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 21 A. Physical Environment 21 1. Antarctic Convergence 21 2. Currents 21 3. Ice 22 4. Factors Affecting Primary Production • • 24 B. Species in the Antarctic Marine Ecosystem 24 . 1. Krill 25 2. Squid 28 3. Fish 29 4. Birds 29 5. Seals 30 6. Whales 3 C. Food Web 31 ... D. Areas of Special Biological Importance 33 E. History of Commercial Harvesting 3 4 1. Whales 34 2. Seals 34 3. Fish 35 4. Krill 35 5. Penguins 36 F. Scientific Investigation 36 VI G. Shipping Traffic 37 H. Ecosystem Responses to Disturbance 3 7 I. Potentially Harvestable Resources 37 J. No Native Peoples 38 VI. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES 3 9 A. Impacts of Commercial Harvesting 3 9 1. Impacts Unaffected by Proposed Action 3 9 .... 2. Direct Impacts on Exploited Stocks 40 3. Indirect Impacts on Dependent Species 4 2 . 4. Local Impacts of Harvesting Operations 44 . 5. Disturbance of the Marine Ecosystem .44 . B. Environmental Impacts of Proposed Federal Action and Alternatives 45 1. Ban on Harvesting 46 2. No Action 47 3. National Action 47 4. Data Reporting Now, Conservation Measures Later 58 5. Complete Conservation Regime (Proposed Federal Action) 59 6. Conservation Regime with Specific Conservation Measures or Interim Harvesting Moratorium 6 VII. SHORT VS. LONG TERM PRODUCTIVITY 62 VIII. UNAVOIDABLE ADVERSE IMPACTS 63 IX. COMMITMENT OF RESOURCES 64 X. CONCLUSIONS 65 .... XI. CONSULTATION AND COOPERATION WITH OTHERS 66 XII. REFERENCES 69

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