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Fourth Consultative Meeting tion, the Representatives agreed on an explanatory statement concerning a Recommendation of the under the Antarctic Treaty Third Consultative Meeting. Of the 28 Recommen- dations, 22 dealt with conservation; the others PETER ROBERTS treated important legal, operational, and procedural Bureau of International Organization Affairs questions. A congratulatory message was forwarded to the antarctic stations of all countries. Department of State The Fourth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meet- Antarctic Conservation ing took place in Santiago, Chile, from November 3 As the subject of 22 Recommendations, the con- to 18, 1966. It was attended by Representatives of servation of antarctic animal and plant life took the 12 nations signatory to the Antarctic Treaty: center stage. The Agreed Measures on Conservation, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, adopted at the Third Consultative Meeting in New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Brussels in 1964, have not yet come into effect. Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Nevertheless, all Consultative Governments have Ambassador Ralph A. Dungan represented the agreed to accept these Measures as guidelines pend- United States. Dr. James Simsarian was his Alter- ing their approval (Recommendation Ill-IX). The nate. Other United States Delegates were Mr. Henry Fourth Consultative Meeting considered ways in S. Francis, Jr., Mr. Peter Roberts, and Colonel Mar- which the Agreed Measures could be further de- shall E. Sanders. veloped. The purpose of these meetings, as specified in The Representatives felt that the time had come Article IX of the Treaty, is to exchange informa- to designate some specially protected areas and tion, consult together on matters of common inter- species. This action was forecast in the Agreed est pertaining to , and to formulate, con- Measures, but the annexes which were to list these sider, and recommend to governments measures in areas and species were left blank pending further furtherance of the principles and objectives of the scientific study. The deliberations of the Scientific Treaty. The Recommendations adopted at Consult- Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in Oc- ative Meetings come into effect only after they have tober 1966 (infra) produced a number of proposals been approved by all of the governments participat- on the subject, and individual countries based their ing in the meetings. proposals on the areas recommended by SCAR. A A gratifying number of solid, constructive meas- lively and constructive discussion resulted in agree- ures emerged from the Fourth Consultative Meeting. ment to recommend that the following 15 areas be In all, 28 Recommendations were adopted. In addi- designated Specially Protected Areas:

January-February, 1967 13 "" [near 67°27S. 60°50E.], tific data are needed if such an agreement is to be Mac. Robertson Land; Rookery Islands [67°36S. realistically based. Nonetheless, the Representatives 62°33E.], ; and Odbert felt that sealing in antarctic waters is of sufficient po- Island, Budd Coast; Sabrina Island, Balleny Is- tential importance to warrant drawing up Interim lands; , ; , Guidelines for the Voluntary Regulation of Pelagic Ross Island; , Victoria Land; Dion Sealing. Recommendation IV-21 was adopted for Islands, Marguerite Bay; Green Island, Berthelot this purpose. In general, the Guidelines set forth Islands; , Livingston Island; Cape the principles that the harvest of seals should not Shirreff, Livingston Island; , King exceed the maximum sustainable yield of any spe- George Island; , South Orkney Is- cies; that the natural ecological system should not be lands; , ; and disturbed; that seals should not be taken or killed in southern Powell Island and adjacent islands, the water; that the Ross seal should be taken only South Orkney Islands. for scientific purposes; that a system of alternating geographic zones and time periods should be ob- The Ross and fur seals were recommended as served. The Recommendation also calls for ex- Specially Protected Species. change of information on sealing operations and pro- The effect of these 17 Recommendations, when poses steps to be taken should any species or the approved, will be to restrict sharply the taking of ecology in any locality appear to be endangered. animals or plants in the areas concerned and the SCAR was encouraged to continue its interest in the taking of Ross and fur seals anywhere in Antarctica. subject and prepare reports on it from time to time Specimens may be taken only for compelling scien- (Recommendation IV-22). tific reasons (routine research requirements are not enough), and under no circumstances may the ecol- Other Subjects ogy be disturbed. 1. The Representatives considered the effects that The implementation of the Agreed Measures was tourist activity might have on the conduct of scien- also advanced by two further Recommendations. tific research, on conservation, and on the operation Recommendation IV-18 provides for cooperation of antarctic stations. Most stations are happy to re- between the various national expeditions to ensure ceive visitors, but 50 or 60 unannounced visitors at that their combined activities do not inadvertently a small station could raise serious problems. A result in taking larger numbers of animals than those visitor should know what is expected of him, both permitted under the Agreed Measures. Recommen- under international agreements in force and under dation IV-19 proposes the adoption of a standard the requirements of the station he visits. Recom- form to exchange required information on animals mendation IV-27 was adopted to meet these points. killed or captured for scientific purposes. 2. Experience has made clear that a number of It may be some time before these 19 Recommen- antarctic subjects are best dealt with by meetings of dations come into effect since most governments will experts. It was considered necessary, therefore, to need to enact new legislation before approving them. define the role of such meetings, how they should be For this reason, the meeting recommended that the convened, and what effect their deliberation should governments regard the 19 Recommendations as have. Recommendation IV-24 deals with these guidelines in the interim (Recommendation IV-20). matters. 3. A meeting of experts on logistics was recom- Conservation on the High Seas mended. The Government of Japan offered to act as Since most antarctic animals are marine, the prob- host to this meeting in June 1968. Detailed terms of lem of conservation on the seas is intimately related reference for the meeting are specified in Recom- to conservation on land. Under the Treaty, no dif- mendation IV-25. ficulty exists in dealing with conservation on land 4. It was agreed that the question of antarctic and shelf ice south of 60°S. The Treaty provides, radio communications should be reviewed in prepar- however, that "nothing in the present Treaty shall ing for the next Consultative Meeting (Recom- prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exer- mendation IV-26). cise of the rights, of any State under international 5. The Government of France offered to hold a law with regard to the high seas within the area." Consultative Meeting in Paris in 1968. In Recom- The question of conservation in the waters of the Treaty area, therefore, raises a number of legal and formal issues which require careful study before any The text of the Interim Guidelines for the Voluntary Regulation of Pelagic Sealing and other Recommendations binding international agreement can be reached. adopted at the Fourth Consultative Meeting will appear in There is also general understanding that more scien- later issues of the Antarctic Journal.

14 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL mendation IV-28, the Representatives advise their Antarctic Institute made all the local arrangements governments to accept the French offer. for the SCAR meeting and provided the clerical and 6. Recommendation III-VII, adopted at the other services needed. The President of Chile held Brussels meeting in 1964, has not yet come into ef- a reception for the attendees. fect. That Recommendation asks the governments The detailed work was undertaken by the Work- to encourage Parties which do not attend Con- ing Groups on Biology and Oceanography and a sultative Meetings to accept approved Recom- Working Group of Delegates. The Working Group mendations and to signify their intent to apply and be on Logistics held an unscheduled ad hoc meeting bound by them. Several Consultative Parties felt it for the purpose of reorganizing and planning its fu- was desirable to make clear that Recommendation ture activities. III-VII in no sense diminishes the responsibilities which Acceding Parties assumed in acceding to the Perhaps the most complex deliberations under- Treaty. The Representatives, therefore, adopted an taken were those of the Working Group on Biology. Explanatory Statement Concerning Recommenda- In 1964, at the Third Consultative Meeting, the Ant- tion III-Vu. In that statement, the considerations arctic Treaty Powers recommended measures relat- that are pertinent to the application of Recom- ing to the conservation of flora and fauna. In addi- mendation III-VII are set forth so that there can be tion to general rules of conservation, the measures no misunderstanding of the intent of the Recom- included a provision to afford special protection to mendation. certain species and areas. At that time, the Treaty governments did not, however, attempt to designate At the close of the Fourth Consultative Meeting, either the species or the areas, but requested SCAR warm and well-merited appreciation was expressed to consider the matter. After long and careful by all the Representatives to the Government of Chile; to the Chairman of the meeting, Ambassador study, the Working Group on Biology proposed that 2 species of seals and 14 areas deserved special Julio Escudero; to the Secretary General, Mr. Fran- cisco José Oyarzun; and to the hard-working and protection. The seals—the fur and the Ross—are capable members of the language and secretariat rare and little-known species. Included among the staffs. Specially Protected Areas were four of particular in- terest to U.S. scientists--Capes Hallett and Crozier, and Beaufort and Sabrina Islands. Ninth Meeting of the The Working Group on Biology also considered the related topics of pelagic sealing and the taking Scientific Committee on of fauna in the pack ice. It recognized that com- Antarctic Research mercial exploitation of seal stocks might occur, but pointed out that present knowledge was too scanty to permit fixing quotas or making other regulations. HENRY M. DATER It urged vigorous studies of seals and other pack-ice U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica fauna and suggested the creation of a special sub- Delegates from the 12 member nations, accom- group of experts to investigate the problems in- panied by their advisers, and representatives of volved. The Group also proposed a standardized seven international scientific unions assembled in form for reporting animals taken or killed under Santiago, Chile, from September 20 to 23, 1966, for permit. All of these suggestions were approved by the ninth meeting of the Scientific Committee on SCAR and referred to the national committees Antarctic Research (SCAR). The 61 attendees which, in turn, brought them to the attention of their considered such subjects as measures for antarctic governments in preparation for the Fourth Treaty conservation and the incorporation of antarctic Consultative Meeting (cf. article supra). meteorological observations into a global weather- reporting system. They also planned future SCAR Meteorology activities and reorganized some of SCARs working In the field of meteorology, SCAR has recognized groups to reflect new trends in antarctic research. the program of the World Meteorological Or- The sessions, held at the Universidad Tecnica del ganization (WMO) for the establishment of a global Estado, were preceded by the Symposium on Ant- weather-reporting system to be called the "World arctic Oceanography (cf. article infra). During the Weather Watch." This development relieves SCAR period of the Symposium and the subsequent SCAR of its concern with the collecting, reporting, and meeting, an international antarctic exhibit, organ- analyzing of weather data for operational pur- ized by the Chilean Government, was held in the poses. In 1959, the Australian Government, at the Great Hall of the University of Chile. The Chilean invitation of SCAR, set up an International Ant-

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