The Congress finds that—

(1) the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources establishes international mechanisms and creates legal obligations necessary for the protection and conservation of Antarctic marine living resources;

(2) the Convention incorporates an innovative ecosystem approach to the management of Antarctic marine living resources, including standards designed to ensure the health of the individual populations and species and to maintain the health of the Antarctic marine ecosystem as a whole;

(3) the Convention serves important United States environmental and resource management interests;

(4) the Convention represents an important contribution to United States long term legal and political objectives of maintenance of Antarctica as an area of peaceful international cooperation;

(5) United States basic and directed research programs concerning the marine living resources of the Antarctic are essential to achieve the United States goal of effective implementation of the objectives of the Convention; and

(6) the United States has important security, economic, and environmental interests in developing and maintaining a fleet of icebreaking vessels capable of operating effectively in the heavy ice regions of Antarctica.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the legislative authority necessary to implement, with respect to the United States, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

(Pub. L. 98–623, title III, § 302, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3398.)