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better information on regional distribution, abundance, and 

 productivity. The Commission further recommended that no 

 additional live captures be authorized until available 

 survey data were reassessed and quotas were adjusted for 

 seasonal variation in abundance. The Commission asked that 

 it be advised of the results of the seasonality assessment 

 of survey data and any subsequent changes in quotas and that 

 it be informed of what was done to revise or expand the 

 planned regional surveys. 



On 8 August 1983, the Service advised the Commission of 

 the results of the seasonality assessment and forwarded the 

 Southeast Fisheries Center's recommendation for revising 

 annual quotas on the take of bottlenose dolphins from various 

 areas. The recommended quotas were based on minimum population 

 estimates and proposed to limit the take of female dolphins 

 to not more than 50 percent of the total annual allowable 

 take within any management area or subarea. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, reviewed the recommended quotas and, by 

 letter of 3 November, recommended that they be adopted as 

 proposed. The Commission also asked the Service to advise 

 it as to what had been done with respect to the Commission's 

 16 March recommendation to modify and expand planned surveys 

 in order to monitor bottlenose dolphin abundance in areas 

 where captures and removals have been permitted. 



Gulf of California Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena sinus) 



Little is known about the Gulf of California harbor 

 porpoise, sometimes called the cochito or vaquita. It is 

 one of the smallest cetaceans and its range appears to be 

 limited to the northern portion of the Gulf of California, 

 Mexico. Because of its size, and the fact that it is 

 elusive and appears to associate in small groups, the 

 species is difficult to sight in the wild. There are only 

 about 20 confirmed records of the species. 



In 1976, the Commission provided support for a reconnaissance 

 survey in the northern Gulf of California in order to gain 

 information on the species' status. The study produced a 

 few probable sightings and results suggested that the population 

 was not large and could be declining. In 1979, the Commission 

 contracted for further field research in the northern Gulf. 

 Two probable sightings of pairs or trios of the harbor 

 porpoise were reported during the one-month survey, again 

 suggesting that the species is rare. Its shy nature and the 

 difficulties of observing it in all but the calmest seas, 

 however, make such a conclusion questionable. 



