Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§2431 Findings and purpose

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 44A— - ANTARCTIC MARINE LIVING RESOURCES CONVENTION › § 2431

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives the United States the legal authority to put into action an international agreement to protect Antarctic sea life. Congress says that the agreement creates global rules and duties to conserve Antarctic marine life, uses a whole-ecosystem approach with standards for species and overall ecosystem health, supports U.S. environmental and resource goals, helps keep Antarctica a place of peaceful cooperation, means U.S. research on Antarctic marine life is essential, and supports U.S. needs for icebreaking ships in heavy Antarctic ice.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §2431

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)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.
(b)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.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

Pub. L. 98–623, title III, § 301, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3398, provided that: “This title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 2431

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73