the Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment, the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

 The Minerals Management Service, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have had the 

 largest and most diverse marine mammal research programs. 



Responses to the 1988 survey were received in December 

 1988. After the information provided has been compiled and 

 verified, the Commission, in consultation with its Committee 

 of Scientific Advisors, will evaluate the information and 

 make such recommendations as may be appropriate to better 

 develop, focus, and coordinate agency programs. 



Research Program Reviews, Workshops, 

 and Planning Meetings 



In 1988, the Commission, in consultation with its Committee 

 of Scientific Advisors, reviewed, commented on, and/or made 

 recommendations concerning: the Hawaiian monk seal, North 

 Pacific fur seal, bottlenose dolphin, tuna/porpoise, marine 

 debris, and Antarctic marine living resources research programs 

 being planned, conducted, or supported by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service; the West Indian manatee and California sea 

 otter research programs being conducted by the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service; and the marine mammal components of the Minerals 

 Management Service's Outer Continental Shelf Environmental 

 Studies Program. In addition, representatives of the Commission 

 convened, co-sponsored, or participated in meetings and work- 

 shops to: review operation of the Convention for the 

 Conservation of Antarctic Seals; determine research needs and 

 priorities with regard to implementation of the Convention on 

 the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; begin 

 developing recovery plans for populations of right and humpback 

 whales that occur in U.S. waters; identify possible alternatives 

 to the practice of setting purse seines around porpoise schools 

 to catch the yellowfin tuna that associate with porpoise; and 

 describe research, education, and other programs necessary to 

 protect manatees and their habitat in Florida. 



Commission-Sponsored Research and Study Projects 



The Departments of Commerce and the Interior have primary 

 responsibility under the Marine Mammal Protection Act for 

 acguiring the biological and ecological data needed to protect 

 and conserve marine mammals and the ecosystems of which they 

 are a part. This responsibility has been delegated to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, respectively. 



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