The Commission worked closely with the Service during 

 1987 on various drafts of the final regulations and, by letter 

 of 29 December 1987, recommended to the Service that the 

 regulations, with certain modifications, be promptly adopted. 

 Among the modifications recommended by the Commission were 

 that: (a) the comparability of foreign and domestic kill 

 rates reflect the variability found in the U.S. kill rate and 

 the number of vessels in the foreign fleet; (b) the Service 

 fully explain why the standards it eventually adopts for 

 foreign nations are considered to be comparable; (c) the 

 comparison of porpoise kill rates between U.S. and foreign 

 fleets begin in 1988 and that full comparability be reguired 

 in 1989; (d) mortality data be provided by foreign governments 

 on a stock-by-stock basis; and (e) a showing be made that 

 tuna were caught when a positive finding of comparability was 

 in effect for the exporting nation before tuna may be imported 

 into the United States from that nation. 



On 18 March 1988, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 published an interim final rule implementing the 1984 amend- 

 ments. The interim final rule did not address several of the 

 points raised in the Commission's 29 December 1987 letter 

 and, in a 17 May 1988 letter, the Commission reiterated the 

 recommendations noted above. 



The Service met with interested parties, including repre- 

 sentatives of the Commission, the Inter-American Tropical 

 Tuna Commission, the tuna industry, and environmental organiza- 

 tions, on 1 June 1988 to discuss the comments received on the 

 interim final rule. The Service planned to respond to the 

 public comments on the interim rule and publish a "permanent" 

 final rule before the end of 1988. However, as noted in 

 Chapter II, during the reauthorization of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act, amendments were made to the importation 

 provisions, further delaying promulgation of "permanent" 

 final regulations. At the end of 1988, the Service was 

 redrafting the interim final regulations to reflect the recently 

 enacted amendments. Publication of the interim final rule is 

 expected early in 1989. 



The 1988 amendments to the Act provided further guidance 

 with respect to the comparability of foreign tuna-porpoise 

 programs to that of the United States and imposed additional 

 requirements on foreign nations seeking to import yellowfin 

 tuna into the United States. By the end of the 1989 fishing 

 season, each foreign fleet must have achieved a porpoise mor- 

 tality rate that is not more than twice that of the U.S. 

 fleet and, by the end of the 1990 season, the foreign nation's 

 mortality rate must be no more than 1.25 times that of the U.S. 

 fleet. Beginning in 1990, comparable foreign programs must 

 include all prohibitions on encircling pure schools of marine 

 mammals, conducting sundown sets, and other activities as are 



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