Coitunission concluded, may provide insufficient protection for 

 cow/calf pairs. 



Therefore, in its 23 December letter to the Seirvice, the 

 Commission recommended that: (1) the proposed regulations be 

 revised to more closely reflect the protection standards 

 included in the 1979 Notice of Interpretation; (2) areas 

 traditionally used by cow/calf pairs be identified and 

 designated as areas where vessel approaches closer than 300 

 yards are prohibited; (3) consideration be given to pro- 

 hibiting jet ski and parasailing activity in areas where 

 cow/calf pairs have commonly been observed; (4) in addition 

 to the 1,000-foot vertical separation, a horizontal 

 limitation of at least 300 yards be placed on aircraft 

 approaches to humpback whales; and (5) the Service identify 

 and undertake research and monitoring studies to assess the 

 effectiveness of measures undertaken to protect humpback 

 whales in Hawaiian waters as well as to identify any other 

 measures that may be needed. 



In addition to proposing formal regulations to govern 

 vessel and aircraft operations, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service informally advised the Commission in October 1985 

 that it planned to convene a series of meetings to determine 

 whether and how to go about developing a conservation plan 

 for the North Pacific humpback whale population. The first 

 meeting, involving principally National Marine Fisheries 

 Service personnel, was held in Honolulu on 6-7 November 1986. 

 Subsequent meetings, expected to be held in 1987, will 

 involve representatives of other Federal agencies. State and 

 local governments, potentially affected industries, and 

 concerned environmental groups. 



The Commission believes that recovery plans and recovery 

 teams are important for identifying and facilitating coopera- 

 tive Federal, State, and private actions necessary to protect 

 and encourage recovery of endangered and threatened species. 

 Therefore, by letter of 23 December 1986 to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, the Commission repeated its recom- 

 mendation that the Service develop, adopt, and implement 

 recovery plans for right, humpback, and bowhead whale 

 populations that occur in U.S. waters. With respect to 

 humpback whales, the Commission also recommended that the 

 Service take appropriate action to monitor whale vessel 

 traffic as well as whale distribution, abundance, and 

 behavior patterns off the southwest coast of Maui and 

 wherever else necessary in Hawaii so as to provide the basis 

 for detecting and mitigating the potential adverse effects of 

 vessel traffic and other forms of disturbance on the recovery 

 of the North Pacific humpback whale population. 



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