Appendix A — Commission Recommendations 



14 July Interior, commenting to the Minerals Management Service on the draft environmental impact statement 



for the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sales #157 and #161, central and western planning areas; 

 recommending, among other things, that the critical uncertainties, research needs, and recommenda- 

 tions identified by the August 1989 workshop on sea turtles and marine mammals of the Gulf of 

 Mexico be considered and incorporated, as appropriate, into the statement; recommending that, if it 

 has not already done so, the Service consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service to (a) obtain the best available information on the distribution, abundance, relative 

 population discreteness, diet, and important calving/breeding/feeding areas (and related uncertainties) 

 of sperm whales, West Indian manatees, bottlenose dolphins, spotted dolphins, and other marine 

 mammals known or thought to occur commonly in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and (b) ascertain the 

 types of site-specific and population monitoring programs needed to verify that marine mammals and 

 their habitats are not adversely affected by offshore oil and gas activities in the northern Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



18 July Commerce, scientific research permit, National Marine Mammal Laboratory. 



19 July Commerce, scientific research permit, James T. Harvey. 



25 July Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, National Marine Mammal Laboratory. 



27 July Interior, commenting to the Minerals Management Service on the call for information regarding gas 



and oil lease sales #166 in the central and #168 in the western Gulf of Mexico planning areas; noting 

 that the Environmental Impact Statement should identify and assess the possible cumulative effects on 

 the various marine mammal species and populations of (a) unusual high mortality events, (b) incidental 

 take in fisheries, (c) oil and gas exploration and development in other parts* of the northern Gulf, and 

 (d) other human activities that may be affecting the various species and populations of marine 

 mammals throughout their ranges; and recommending that the Service, if it has not already done so, 

 consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service to identify long- 

 term monitoring programs that may be necessary or desirable to ensure that oil and gas exploration 

 and development do not disadvantage marine mammals. 



27 July Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, Southwest Fisheries Science Center. 



27 July Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, Southwest Fisheries Science Center. 



31 July Commerce, commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding a proposal to expand a 



commercial salt operation in the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, a principal calving/breeding 

 area for the eastern Pacific gray whale population; recommending that the Service (1) do everything 

 possible to assist the Mexican Government's review of the possible environmental impacts of the 

 proposed expansion of the commercial salt operation, and (2) give the highest possible priority within 

 its gray whale research program to identifying and determining how to prevent or mitigate threats to 

 essential gray whale habitats in Baja California. 



1 August Commerce, modification of scientific research permit, National Marine Mammal Laboratory. 



4 August Commerce, commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the Hawaiian monk seal 



recovery program; recommending that the Service (1) if it has not already done so, take immediate 

 steps to provide veterinary and data management expertise to the program through its cooperative 

 university program, (2) retain the current recovery team leader's position within the program and, if it 

 has not already done so, immediately initiate a search for a replacement, (3) prepare a long-term 

 rehabilitation and release plan similar to that completed in 1987 to address the adult male "mobbing" 

 problem, (4) proceed with efforts to work with the Navy on plans to begin a Midway Islands monk 

 seal restoration project in 1996, (5) suspend lobster fishing around French Frigate Shoals so that, if the 



213 



