- 5 - 



which they are a part. This responsibility has been delegated 

 to the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, respectively. 



As noted earlier, the Commission convenes workshops and 

 contracts for research and studies to identify and evaluate 

 threats to marine mammal populations and supports, within 

 its budget limitations, other research it deems necessary. 

 Since it was established, the Commission has contracted for 

 more than 400 projects, ranging in amounts from several 

 hundred dollars to $150,000. The average contract cost has 

 been approximately $8,100. Total contract amounts were 

 were: $258,787 in FY 1974; $446,628 in FY 75; $497,449 in 

 FY 76; $132,068 in the FY 76-77 three-month transition 

 period; $523,504 in FY 77; $407,678 in FY 78; $219,897 in FY 

 79; $396,640 in FY 80; $173,652 in FY 81; $107,117 in FY 82; 

 and $211,982 in FY 83. 



In many cases, the Commission's investment in research 

 activities is in the form of transfers of funds to other 

 Federal agencies, particularly the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. When such funds 

 are transferred, the Commission provides detailed scopes of 

 work which describe precisely what the agency is to do or 

 have done and requirements for reporting on progress to the 

 Commission. In many instances, this approach has enabled 

 agencies to start needed research sooner than might otherwise 

 have been possible, on the understanding that the agency 

 itself will continue project support as long as necessary. 

 The Commission also believes that it is valuable to maintain 

 agency involvement to the greatest extent possible and that 

 such transfers provide a useful means of doing so. 



Contract work undertaken by the Commission in 198 3 is 

 summarized below. Final reports from Commission-sponsored 

 studies completed in 1983 and earlier are available from the 

 National Technical Information Service and are listed in 

 Appendix B of this Report. Papers based on Commission- 

 sponsored research that have been published elsewhere are 

 listed in Appendix C. 



Survey of Federally-Funded Marine Mammal Research 

 (G. H. Waring, Ph.D. , Southern Illinois University) 



The Commission, as noted above, conducts an annual 

 survey to identify marine mammal research conducted or 

 supported by other Federal agencies. The contractor is 

 reviewing these efforts and, early in 1984, will submit 



