Appendix A — Commission Recommendations 



21 August Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on a proposal to remove the eastern 



North Pacific (California) gray whale stock ft-om its List of Threatened and Endangered Species; and 

 recommending, among other things, that the Service (1) identify and assess present and foreseeable 

 threats to the gray whale stock; and (2) review all past biological opinions issued pursuant to section 7 

 of the Endangered Species Act that pertain to gray whales to determine how de-listing or down-listing 

 might affect implementation of any conservation measures contained therein. 



28 August Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on the collection and possibly lethal 



taking of a harbor seal at Seal Island, Prince WiUiam Sound, Alaska, to retrieve a non-functioning 

 telemetry package; recommending that the collection be authorized only if reasonable efforts made to 

 recapture the animal alive prove unsuccessfiil; and fiirther recommending that the Service's Permit 

 Office consult the National Marine Mammal Laboratory to determine the most humane and effective 

 methods for attaching radio tags. 



3 1 August Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on proposed changes to the List of 



Fisheries defining the level of incidental take of marine mamma ls and noting that, for certain fisheries, 

 there is poor documentary evidence of the rate of incidental take for fisheries placed in Category I; and 

 recommending that the Service should use the best available information when categorizing a fishery 

 whether or not the level of take has been documented. 



10 September Interior; commenting to the Fish and Wildlife Service on the need to develop boat speed regulations to 



protect manatees in the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Reftige; noting that the Florida Governor and 

 Cabinet approved proposed boat speed regulations for Volusia County, including the Lake Woodruff 

 area but that these were being challenged and therefore delayed; and recommending that the Service 

 propose comparable boat speed regulations for the Refuge as quickly as possible. 



1 1 September Commerce; scientific research permit, Thomas Ford, Jr. 



1 1 September Interior; scientific research permit, Caribbean Aquatic Animal Health Department. 



16 September Commerce; commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on the protection needs for humpback 



whales in Hawaiian waters; forwarding a Commission-spKinsored report on the conservation and 

 protection needs of hun^jback whales in Hawaii; and recommending that, when the Humpback Whale 

 Recovery Plan is completed, the Service immediately take steps to develop area-specific implementation 

 plans and consider the recommendations in the report when doing so. 



17 September Commerce; public display permit, John G. Shedd Aquarium. 



17 September Commerce; public display permit, Shelley L. Brandau, Milwaukee County Zoo. 



17 September Interior; responding to a request that the Marine Mammal Commission review whether oil and gas 



development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would conflict with the need to protect the Beaufort 

 Sea polar bear population and U.S. obligations under the 1976 International Agreement on the 

 Conservation of Polar Bears; noting that (1) activities in the Refuge may have greater effects than in 

 other areas because of polar bear denning in the Refuge; (2) cumulative effects could adversely affect 

 polar bears throughout the Arctic; and (3) therefore, the U.S. could be in violation of the 1976 

 Agreement if it does not take proper action to resolve the uncertainties surrounding oil and gas 

 development in polar bear habitat; and recommending that the Service advise it as to, among other 

 things, what it is doing to identify important polar bear denning areas and how oil and gas development 

 might affect those areas and the bears that use them. 



20 September Commerce; commenting further to the National Marine Fisheries Service on Amendment 3 to the 



Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic Fisheries in the Western Pacific Region; noting that its response 

 to the Commission's 9 and 16 August 1991 letters did not address the recommendation regarding the 

 placement of observers aboard vessels fishing between 50 and 100 nautical miles of the Northwestern 

 Hawaiian Islands to document interactions between the fishery and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal; 

 and restating its recommendation that the Service do so. 



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