the effects of entanglement on northern fur seals; and (3) con- 

 duct a pilot study to evaluate the Service's capability for 

 deploying, tracking, and recovering large fragments of trawl 

 web as a means for assessing the nature and extent of fur 

 seal entanglement in such debris. By letter of 1 July 1987, 

 the Service further advised the Commission that it proposed 

 to hold a workshop to assess entanglement-related research 

 needs in 1987 and to defer the technology workshop recommended 

 by the Commission until results of the fur seal entanglement 

 workshop were available. In its letter, the Service also 

 noted that it had been successful in arranging for cooperative 

 squid drift net fishery research with Japan and the Republic 

 of Korea, and that a preliminary draft conservation plan for 

 fur seals was being developed and would be forwarded to the 

 Commission for review and comment in the near future. 



As noted in Chapter VI, commitment of funds from the 

 Marine Entanglement Program requires Commission concurrence. 

 By letter of 7 July 1987, the Commission advised the Service 

 that it concurred conceptually with the proposed expenditure 

 of $55,000 to support the workshop, modeling study, and pilot 

 study described in the research plan forwarded with the Ser- 

 vice's letter of 22 June 1987. The Commission recommended 

 support of the workshop and modeling study with the under- 

 standing that: (1) a tentative workshop agenda, a list of 

 prospective workshop participants, and a tentative list of 

 documents to be distributed in advance of the workshop would 

 be provided to the Commission for review and concurrence 

 before funds were committed; and (2) the Commission would be 

 given an opportunity to comment on a draft request for pro- 

 posals for the modeling study and to review and comment on 

 proposals submitted in response to the request. The Commission 

 questioned the rationale for and the lack of detail in the 

 plan for the proposed pilot study and recommended that funding 

 of that project be deferred pending submission and approval 

 of a proposal containing a detailed description of the proposed 

 research protocol, the underlying rationale for it, and a 

 detailed budget justification. 



On 31 August 1987, the Service sent the Commission its 

 Preliminary Draft Conservation Plan for Pribilof Islands Fur 

 Seals for review and comment. This draft plan was used in 

 developing U.S. positions and initiatives for discussion of 

 fur seal research needs during informal consultations with 

 the former parties to the Interim Fur Seal Convention, held 

 on 22-23 September 1987 (see below) . The draft plan was 

 reviewed by the Commission, in consultation with its Committee 

 of Scientific Advisors, during the Commission's Annual Meeting 

 in Miami, Florida, on 10-12 December 1987. At the end of the 

 year, the Service was revising the draft plan to take account 

 of comments provided by scientists and program administrators 



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