broadly representative marine mammal interests and experience. 



The ten Working Groups involved biologists, biometricians, 

 Native subsistence users, conservationists, and State and 

 Federal wildlife resource managers. The Groups were asked: 

 (1) to prepare comprehensive summaries of available information 

 on biological, ecological, and other factors affecting 

 conservation; (2) to describe the research and management 

 activities which they believed should be undertaken; and (3) to 

 provide estimates of costs and priorities for the identified 

 research and management tasks. 



Recognizing the need to coordinate the Working Groups' 

 efforts, the Marine Mammal Commission asked Jack W. Lentfer, 

 a marine mammal and resource management specialist in Alaska, 

 to oversee the effort. Since drafting the species accounts 

 required considerable effort, the Commission contracted with 

 a number of people to act as lead authors. Completed drafts 

 of each paper were circulated among members of the appropriate 

 Working Group for review and comment. The consultative process 

 among lead author, Working Group members, other interested 

 persons, and the Commission continued until there was general 

 agreement on each paper's content. The papers' strengths 

 come, in no small measure, from the fact that they represent 

 a broadly agreed-upon body of factual information and recom- 

 mendations. 



The Marine Mammal Commission believes that these ten 

 species reports, to be published in early 1988, will help to 

 provide the needed basis for developing and implementing marine 

 mammal conservation plans in Alaska. The documents should be 

 of equal value whether management authority ultimately rests 

 with the Federal Government, with the State of Alaska, or 

 with a cooperating group of interests. 



Background Information on Transfer of Management 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act sets forth certain proce- 

 dures whereby the Secretaries of Commerce and/or the Interior 

 may, in response to a properly submitted request, transfer 

 authority for marine mammal management from the Federal Govern- 

 ment to a State Government. In order to transfer Federal 

 management authority, the Secretary with jurisdiction over 

 the species in question must determine, after notice and oppor- 

 tunity for public comment, that the state has developed and 

 will implement a program that satisfies the requirements of 

 section 109 of the Act for the conservation of the affected 

 species. In making this determination, the Secretary must 

 issue a finding that the state has, among other things, estab- 

 lished a process to determine the optimum sustainable population 



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