shortly thereafter returned to the Federal Government. To 

 focus attention on the species in question and not upon 

 bureaucratic processes, the Commission stated in 1984 that, 

 no matter who has the responsibility, certain facts are 

 clear: (a) the development of research and management plans 

 will always be heavily dependent upon the existence of 

 carefully developed and generally agreed-upon species 

 accounts and problem descriptions as base documents; 

 (b) research upon which to base conservation and management 

 of marine mammals can and must be carefully described; (c) 

 the same holds true for needed management actions; and (d) to 

 be useful, the species accounts with research and management 

 recommendations have to have been cooperatively developed by 

 representatives of all interested groups. 



With the foregoing points in mind, the Commission, in 

 cooperation with representatives of the Eskimo community, the 

 State, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, the academic community, and private 

 groups, established seven Working Groups composed of 

 biologists, bioroetricians, Native and non-Native coastal 

 residents, representatives of the conservation community, and 

 representatives of State and Federal agencies. The Groups 

 were charged with preparing: (1) comprehensive species 

 accounts that summarize available information on population 

 status and threats; (2) summaries of research activities that 

 are either underway or planned; (3) summaries of existing and 

 proposed management programs; (4) descriptions of recommended 

 research activities; and (5) descriptions of recommended 

 management programs. The final reports, which address the 

 ten species for which the State had at one time planned to 

 seek management authority, are designed to be of value to 

 whichever governmental entity. State or Federal, may have 

 management authority. 



For purposes of facilitating and coordinating the 

 efforts of the Working Groups, the Commission entered into a 

 contract in 1984 with a marine mammal and resource management 

 specialist in Juneau, Alaska. Under the contract, which was 

 amended in 1985 and again in 1986, the contractor has 

 responsibility for overseeing the development of the Working 

 Groups' comprehensive reports and their publication. To 

 further the effort, the Commission entered into additional 

 contracts in 1985 and 1986 with persons to act as lead 

 drafters of the reports on different species (see Chapter II 

 of this Report and the previous Annual Report) . Draft 

 reports containing species accounts and research and manage- 

 ment recommendations for nine of the ten species have been 

 prepared, approved, and readied for publication. A report on 

 the tenth species, the sea otter, will be finished early in 

 1987. 



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