Chapter X — Research and Studies Program 



database. Ongoing and future analysis of the photo- 

 graphs and related data will yield better understanding 

 of the abundance, productivity, and daily and seasonal 

 movement patterns of humpback whales in the North 

 Atlantic. 



Posthumous Publication of the Scientific Works of 



Francis H. Fay, Ph.D. 



(Brendan P. Kelly, Fairbanks, Alaska) 



When eminent marine mammal biologist, Francis 

 H. Fay, Ph.D., died in June 1994, he was working on 

 a number of manuscripts of great potential relevance 

 to the conservation of marine mammals. In order to 

 make these unfinished works available to the marine 

 mammal research and management communities, the 

 Commission provided support to the contractor in 

 1994 to complete and publish various papers posthu- 

 mously. A similar contract was provided in 1995. 

 The work was also supported by the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service and the National Biological Service. In the 

 case of both Marine Mammal Commission contracts, 

 the contractor made arrangements, as possible, to 

 have Dr. Fay's students and collaborators complete 

 manuscripts and submit them to appropriate journals 

 for publication. In addition, the contractor has 

 organized and cataloged hundreds of raw data files 

 and has prepared or is preparing a number of manu- 

 scripts, primarily on Pacific walruses, for publication. 

 To date, four papers reporting Dr. Fay's data have 

 been published in peer-reviewed journals, and three 

 papers are in press or in preparation. 



Possible Application of New and Developing 

 Technologies to the Study of Marine Mammals 

 (Andrew J. Read, Ph.D., Duke University Marine 

 Laboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina) 



Development of effective programs to protect and 

 conserve marine mammals and their habitat requires 

 reliable information on marine mammal natural 

 history, demography, ecology, and behavior. Because 

 marine mammals spend much of their lives underwa- 

 ter and in regions where they are difficult to observe, 

 obtaining such information is difficult, time-consum- 

 ing, and expensive. New and developing satellite- 

 tracking and other technologies may provide better 

 means for certain types of observations at less cost. 

 The purposes of this contract are to identify and 



assess the potential application of existing and possible 

 next-generation technologies to obtain information 

 concerning abundance, movements, and habitat-use 

 patterns of marine mammals; the nature of interactions 

 among individuals; the feeding habits, diet, and 

 commonly used feeding grounds of both cetaceans and 

 pinnipeds; the genetic relatedness among individuals 

 and stocks; and the general health or condition of 

 individuals. The Commission, in consultation with its 

 Committee of Scientific Advisors, will review the 

 contract report and advise the relevant regulatory 

 agencies of the potentially promising technologies that 

 may merit further evaluation. 



Assessment of Legislation and Regulations 

 Banning Gillnets in U.S. Waters 

 (Brad Warren, National Fisheries Conservation 

 Center, Seattle, Washington) 



Gillnets provide an efficient and relatively inexpen- 

 sive means for catching many commercially valuable 

 species of fish and squid. However, they are indiscri- 

 minate and also catch marine mammals, seabirds, sea 

 turtles, and non-target fish species. Their use has 

 been banned in a number of areas because of potential 

 impacts on both target and non-target species and the 

 concerns expressed by recreational fishermen and 

 others. It is not clear whether the legislation and 

 regulations instituting the bans have been well-found- 

 ed. The purposes of this study are to identify and 

 assess the rationale for legislation and regulations that 

 have been enacted to ban the use of gillnets in certain 

 U.S. waters. The contract report is expected to 

 provide a more objective basis for judging the pros 

 and cons of gillnet fisheries. 



Sea Otter Pup Survival and Development 

 (Charles W. Monnett, Ph.D., Homer, Alaska) 



Sea otters were extirpated from most of their range 

 as a result of unregulated commercial hunting in the 

 1700s and 1800s. Small groups survived in several 

 areas and provided the beginnings for the present 

 populations in California, British Columbia, Alaska, 

 and elsewhere. Growth of the population in Alaska 

 appears to have been much faster than the one in 

 California. The reason for this has been the subject 

 of much speculation. The contractor has been con- 

 ducting radio-tracking and other studies of sea otters 



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