by marine debris. With respect to five of the proposed tasks, 

 however, the Commission expressed the view that further con- 

 sideration was warranted prior to making final funding decis- 

 ions. The exceptions included the proposed task to evaluate 

 onboard trash incineration systems, the proposed study concern- 

 ing the occurrence of plastics in stomachs of sea birds, and 

 the three proposed tasks concerning entanglement of North 

 Pacific fur seals. Therefore, the Commission's letter recom- 

 mended that the Service proceed with implementing portions of 

 the proposed program plan but that further analysis and con- 

 sultation be undertaken with respect to the five noted tasks. 



After further consideration, the Service and the Commission 

 agreed that, in lieu of support for the five proposed projects, 

 funds should be used to assess the distribution and amount of 

 floating plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean, to complete 

 a cooperative study with the Fish and Wildlife Service on the 

 effects of plastic ingestion on Hawaiian sea birds, and to 

 undertake three alternative research projects on the entangle- 

 ment of North Pacific fur seals in marine debris. The latter 

 three projects are discussed in greater detail in the North 

 Pacific fur seal section of Chapter II of the Report. 



As noted above, Congress appropriated $750,000 to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service for its Entanglement Program 

 in Fiscal Year 1988. To begin developing plans for allocating 

 these funds, the Service convened a meeting in Seattle, Wash- 

 ington, on 30 June-1 July 1987 to review the status and results 

 of tasks undertaken up to that point under the Entanglement 

 Program and to identify priority tasks for future funding. 

 Representatives of the Commission participated in that meeting 

 and, based on its results, the Service developed a proposed 

 Program Plan for Fiscal Year 1988. The recommended Program 

 Plan was transmitted to the Commission by letter of 4 December 

 1987 and, to assist the Commission's review, the Service's 

 Entanglement Program Manager reviewed the proposed Plan during 

 the course of the Commission's Annual Meeting in Miami on 10 

 December 1987. 



The Service's proposed Fiscal Year 1988 Program budget was 

 developed at a level of $685,000 because of mandatory budget 

 reductions. The Service recommended allocating funds among 

 19 tasks, 11 of which would continue projects begun in previous 

 years. Those to be carried forward include: the education 

 and public awareness programs for the North Pacific, Gulf of 

 Mexico, and Northwest Atlantic areas; monitoring the high 

 seas squid drift net fishery in the North Pacific Ocean; 

 collecting and cataloguing marine debris hazardous to Hawaiian 

 monk seals and other marine life in the Northwest Hawaiian 

 Islands; monitoring pinniped entanglement rates at the Cali- 

 fornia Channel Islands; assessing the accumulation and disap- 

 pearance rates of marine debris at selected Alaska beaches; 



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