fur seal, harbor seal, and Steller sea lion populations 

 in the North Pacific and Bering Sea; 



identify and evaluate the relative costs and benefits 

 of possible means for preventing or reducing the at-sea 

 loss and discarding of fishing gear and other poten- 

 tially hazardous and persistent marine debris; 



identify and evaluate the costs and benefits of possible 

 means for avoiding or reducing the adverse effects of 

 interactions between marine mammals and fisheries; 



identify and determine how best to protect habitats 

 essential to the health and stability of marine mammal 

 populations worldwide; and 



develop better methods for assessing and monitoring 

 the status of marine mammal populations and habitats and 

 the effects of activities such as offshore oil and gas 

 development on marine mammals. 



As noted at the beginning of this chapter, agencies such 

 as the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Fish and Wild- 

 life Service, and the Minerals Management Service have pri- 

 mary responsibility for assuring that needed research and 

 studies are done. The Commission is responsible for review- 

 ing this research and for seeing that other studies it deems 

 necessary or desirable are done in order to meet the objec- 

 tives of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. To meet its 

 responsibilities, the Commission, in FY 1987, will continue 

 to convene workshops, hold planning meetings, and contract 

 for studies to help define and develop solutions to critical 

 problems. In particular, the Commission expects to organize, 

 convene, or help support workshops, program reviews, and 

 planning meetings to: (1) help develop and adopt a coopera- 

 tive State/Federal plan for assessing and minimizing the 

 adverse effects of marine mammal/fisheries interactions on 

 both fisheries and marine mammal populations in California; 



(2) determine what further actions should be taken to assess 

 and mitigate problems caused by lost and discarded fishing 

 gear and other persistent and hazardous marine debris; 



(3) determine what additional research is needed to facili- 

 tate development of safe and effective systems for radio- 

 tagging and tracking large cetaceans; (4) develop recovery 

 plans for right whales, humpback whales, and other endangered 

 whales in U.S. waters; (5) identify directed research and 

 monitoring programs that should be carried out by the United 

 States to facilitate implementation of the Convention for the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; and 



(6) improve planning and coordination of marine mammal 

 research and management programs being conducted or supported 

 by Federal agencies, State agencies, and other organizations. 



13 



