of alternative denning sites outside these areas are not 

 known. Consequently, additional studies are needed to determine 

 what proportion of the Alaska polar bear population or 

 populations could be affected by offshore oil and gas 

 exploration and development. The Commission suggested that 

 the Minerals Management Service consult with the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

 to determine how the necessary information can best be obtained. 



Pacific Region : On 16 November 1988, the Minerals 

 Management Service's Pacific OCS Region provided and requested 

 comments on the draft Fiscal Year 1990 Regional Studies Plan 

 for the Pacific OCS Region. The Commission reviewed the 

 portions of the plan related to marine mammals and, by letter 

 of 14 December, provided comments. In its letter, the 

 Commission advised the Service that, if it did not already 

 plan to do so, it should develop and implement a program to 

 detect and monitor possible long-term changes in selected 

 marine mammal, bird, and fish populations that could result 

 from offshore oil and gas exploration and development. The 

 Commission noted that salvage and necropsy of dead animals 

 that wash up on beaches may provide one of the most practical 

 and economical means for detecting and monitoring effects of 

 offshore development on coastal marine mammal populations. 

 In this context, the Commission noted that the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service coordinates recovery and study of both live 

 and dead marine mammals that strand on U.S. beaches. The 

 Commission advised that, if the Minerals Management Service 

 had not already done so, it contact the person responsible 

 for the West Coast stranding program to determine how the 

 program might contribute to detecting and monitoring changes 

 in marine mammal condition and population parameters that 

 could result from offshore oil and gas activities. 



In its comments on the Pacific Regional Studies Plan, 

 the Commission also questioned whether all the proposed marine 

 mammal-related studies were necessary and whether all necessary 

 studies had been identified. In this context, the Commission 

 noted that it was not clear whether the Pacific Region had 

 identified studies necessary to assess possible second order 

 (food chain) effects or to detect and monitor both possible 

 first order and second order effects of offshore oil and gas 

 exploration and development on marine mammals. 



Gulf of Mexico Region : As noted above, in its comments 

 on the DEIS for Proposed OCS Lease Sales #118 and #122, the 

 Commission questioned whether available data are adequate to 

 reliably assess the impacts of oil and gas exploration and 

 development on local bottlenose dolphin populations and other 

 marine mammal species in the Gulf of Mexico. The National 

 Marine Fisheries Service shared this concern and, in November 

 1988, the Minerals Management Service convened a meeting in 



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