environmental pollution and a number of human activities that 

 pose additional threats both to the whales and their habitat. 



Beginning in 1979, the Commission has initiated numerous 

 actions to enhance protection of the right whale and other 

 endangered large cetaceans. As examples, the Commission has 

 supported a number of studies and workshops on various 

 matters related to conservation and protection of right 

 whales and their habitat worldwide. These efforts have been 

 described in previous Annual Reports. More recent activities 

 are summarized below. 



In December 1984, the Commission recommended to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service that it prepare, adopt, and 

 implement recovery plans for endangered great whales, includ- 

 ing right, humpback, and bowhead whales, which occur sub- 

 stantially in U.S. waters. In March 1985, the Service 

 advised the Commission that it was deferring action on 

 preparation of recovery plans for endangered whales, due in 

 part to its uncertainty as to whether or how recovery plans 

 would enhance protection of the animals. By the end of 1985, 

 there had been no further action by the Service. 



To help develop a prototype conservation plan for right 

 whales and other endangered large whales, the Commission 

 funded two workshops in 1985 aimed at identifying actions 

 that should be taken to protect and encourage recovery of the 

 right whale population in the northwest Atlantic. On 

 31 December 1985, the Commission sent the Service the final 

 reports of these workshops. In the accompanying letter, the 

 Commission repeated its recommendation that the Service 

 develop, adopt, and implement recovery plans for endangered 

 large whales. With respect to right whales, the Commission 

 recommended that the Service: (a) adopt the report of the 

 workshops as a preliminary recovery plan; (b) convene a 

 meeting to consider ways to implement priority right whale 

 research and management tasks; and (c) constitute a recovery 

 team to oversee implementation of the recovery plan. 



Congress has recognized the need for further research on 

 the northwest Atlantic right whale population. In Fiscal 

 Year 1986, it provided a special appropriation of $500,000 to 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service to support the first 

 year of a planned five-year right whale research project. As 

 a result of the Deficit Reduction and Balanced Budget Act of 

 1985 and other factors, this amount was subsequently reduced 

 to $383,000. This funding initiative was continued in Fiscal 

 1987 when Congress approved a special appropriation of 

 $250,000 for right whale research. 



In order to determine the best use of these funds, the 

 Service established a Right Whale Scientific Advisory Group 



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