MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



21 February Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on a draft report to Congress 



concerning U.S. actions to address large-scale high seas driftnet fishing pursuant to the Driftnet Act 

 Amendments of 1990; expressing concern that all appropriate steps are not being taken to prepare for 

 future international meetings in response to the United Nations General Assembly call for a moratorium 

 on driftnet fisheries after 30 June 1992; and recommending, among other things, that a meeting of U.S. 

 experts be convened to develop an agreed domestic position and approach to help implement the 

 moratorium provisions. 



21 February Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on the taking of Hawaiian monk seals 

 incidental to longline fishing; supporting a Service decision to require observers on board all longline 

 fishing vessels operating within a 50-mile study zone around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and to 

 initiate steps to prohibit fishing within that area; and recommending that (1) observers be required 

 aboard fishing vessels operating between 50 and 100 nautical miles of the Northwestern Hawaiian 

 Islands; (2) monk seal haulout beaches be monitored closely during the fishing season for evidence of 

 interactions with the fishery; and (3) consideration be given to requiring longline fishing vessels to 

 carry real-time vessel locating transmitters. 



21 February Commerce; modification of scientific research permit. North Gulf Oceanic Society. 



22 February Interior; modification of scientific research permit, Alaska Fish and Wildlife Research Center. 



5 March Commerce; modification of scientific research permit, C. Scott Baker, National Cancer Institute. 



5 March Commerce; modification of scientific research permit. Cetacean Research Unit. 



6 March Commerce; modification of scientific research permit. North Gulf Oceanic Society. 



7 March Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on the report of a workshop to design 



a study of the risks and benefits of swim-with-the-dolphin programs; concurring with recommendations 

 in the report; and recommending, among other things, that medical and behavioral protocols and 

 standardized reporting forms be drafted and reviewed by program operators, attending veterinarians, 

 and program staffs. 



8 March State; commenting to the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs on 



the draft Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection; noting substantive progress in 

 the areas of environmental protection and conservation; and recommending certain specific textual 

 changes. 



13 March Commerce; scientific research permit, Bemd Wursig and Graham A.J. Worthy. 



13 March Commerce; scientific research permit, Steven K. Katona. 



15 March Commerce; modification of scientific research permit, Southwest Fisheries Science Center. 



15 March Commerce; scientific research permit, All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and 



Oceanography, U.S.S.R. 



15 March Commerce; public display permit, Singapore Zoological Gardens. 



15 March Commerce; modification of scientific research jjermit, Jan Straley. 



15 March Interior; modification of scientific research permit. Mote Marine Laboratory. 



18 March National Science Foundation; commenting to the Division of Polar Programs on the Draft Supplemental 



Environmental Impact Statement for the United States Antarctic Program; noting, among other things, 

 that the statement does not describe or evaluate either the possible environmental impacts of the various 

 program components or the Division's responsibilities for ensuring that non-governmental expeditions 

 involving U.S. citizens comply with relevant measures such as the Antarctic Conservation Act or the 



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