international pro or am

international pro or am Sec. 108. (a) The Secretary, through the Secretary of State, shall— (1) initiate negotiations as soon as possible for the development of bilateral or multilateral agreements with other nations for the protection and conservation of all marine mammals covered by this Act; (2) initiate negotiations as soon as possible with all foreign governments which are engaged in or which have persons or companies engaged in, commercial fishing operations which are found y the Secretary to be unduly harmful to any species of marine mammal, for the purpose of entering into bilateral and multilat-86 Stat. 1039eral treaties with such countries to protect marine mammals. The Secretary of State shall prepare a draft agenda relating to this matter for discussion at appropriate international meetings and forums; (3) encourage such other agreements to promote the purposes of this Act with other nations for the protection of specific ocean and land regions which are of special significance to the health and stability of marine mammals; (4) initiate the amendment of any existing international treaty for the protection and conservation of any species of marine mammal to which the United States is a party in order to make such treaty consistent with the purposes and policies of this Act; (5) seek the convening of an international ministerial meeting on marine mammals before July 1, 1973, for the purposes of (A) the negotiation of a binding international convention for the protection and conservation of all marine mammals, and (B) the implementation of paragraph (3) of this section; and (6) provide to the Congress by not Inter than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act a full report on the results of his efforts under this section. (b) (1) In addition to the foregoing, the Secretary shall— (A) in consultation with the Marine Mammal Commission established by section 201 of this Act, undertake a study of the North Pacific fur seals to determine whether herds of such seals subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are presently at their optimum sustainable population and what population trends are evident; and (B) in consultation with the Secretary of State, promptly undertake a comprehensive study of the provisions of this Act, as they relate to North Pacific fur seals, and the provisions of the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention signed on February 9, 1957, as extended (hereafter referred to in this subsection as the “Convention”), to determine what modifications, if any, should be made to the provisions of the Convention, or of this Act, or both, to make the Convention and this Act consistent with each other. The Secretary shall complete the studies required under this paragraph not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act and shall immediately provide copies thereof to Congress. (2) If the Secretary finds— (A) as a result of the study required under paragraph (1) (A) of this subsection, that the North Pacific fur seal herds are below their optimum sustainable population and are not trending upward toward such level, or have reached their optimum sustainable population but are commencing a downward trend, and believes the herds to be in danger of depletion; or (B) as a result of the study required under paragraph (1) (B) of this subsection, that modifications of the Convention are desirable to make it and this Art consistent; he shall, through the Secretary of State, immediately initiate negotiations to modify the Convention so as to (i) reduce or halt the taking of seals to the extent required to assure that such herds attain and remain at their optimum sustainable population, or (ii) make the Convention and this Act consistent; or both, as the case may be. If negotiations to so modify the Convention are unsuccessful, the Secretary shall, through the Secretary of State, take such steps as may be necessary to continue the existing Convention beyond its present termination date so as to continue to protect and conserve the North Pacific fur seals and to prevent a return to pelagic sealing.