feeding areas, and determining how bowhead behavior is affected 

 by noise and disturbance associated with industrial activities. 

 In addition, on 17-19 November 1987, a representative of the 

 Commission participated in an Alaska OCS Information Transfer 

 Meeting convened in Anchorage, Alaska, by the Minerals Manage- 

 ment Service. The purpose of the meeting was to review results 

 of recent research, including several studies of bowhead whales 

 and other endangered whales supported by the Service's Alaska 

 OCS Office Environmental Studies Program. During the meeting, 

 additional research needs, including those concerning bowhead 

 whales, were considered. Results of the meeting will be used 

 by the Service to help identify and rank studies possibly 

 meriting future support under its Environmental Studies Program. 



Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) 

 ( Central California Population) 



The harbor porpoise, one of the smallest cetaceans, is 

 found in coastal areas throughout most of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere, including the waters off Europe, the Far East, and 

 the east and west coasts of North America. The species' pre- 

 ference for inshore waters makes it particularly vulnerable 

 to impacts from human activities, such as coastal set net 

 fisheries and environmental pollution. 



In the waters off north-central California, harbor porpoise 

 and other marine species are killed incidentally in the set 

 net fisheries for halibut and other finfish. Based on con- 

 tinuing fishery surveys carried out by the California Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game, it is estimated that approximately 

 200-3 00 harbor porpoise are taken annually in these fisheries. 

 However, little is known about the number, size, and discrete- 

 ness of harbor porpoise populations along the west coast, and 

 it therefore is difficult to judge whether the level of take 

 has caused or is causing one or more populations to be reduced 

 below their maximum net productivity level. 



As noted in the previous Annual Report, the best way to 

 obtain information on harbor porpoise distribution and movement 

 patterns, and thus on the relative discreteness of harbor 

 porpoise populations in different geographic areas, may be by 

 radio-tagging and tracking a representative sample of animals. 

 In 1986, the Commission provided funds to the University of 

 California at Santa Cruz for a pilot project to determine 

 whether harbor porpoise could be safely and effectively caught, 

 radio-tagged, and tracked in the Monterey Bay area. Results 

 of the study indicated that harbor porpoise are able to detect 

 and avoid live-capture weirs constructed with weighted poly- 

 propylene lines suspended at one-meter intervals and that 

 such weirs would be of little or no use for capturing animals 

 for tagging. However, further observation of harbor porpoise 



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