Chapter IV — Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions 



The Gulf of Maine Ecosystem 



The 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act added a new section 1 10(c) requiring 

 the Secretary of Commerce to convene a workshop by 

 30 April 1995 to assess human-caused factors affect- 

 ing the health and stability of the Gulf of Maine 

 ecosystem of which marine mammals are a part. 

 Organization and planning of the workshop was to be 

 done in consultation with the Marine Mammal Com- 

 mission, the adjacent coastal states, individuals with 

 expertise in marine mammal biology and ecology, 

 representatives of environmental organizations and the 

 fishing industry, and other appropriate persons. The 

 Secretary was directed to report to Congress on or 

 before 31 December 1995 describing the results of the 

 workshop and measures proposed or recommended to 

 restore or maintain the health and stability of the Gulf 

 of Maine marine ecosystem and its key components. 



Responsibility for the workshop was assigned to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service's Northeast Fisher- 

 ies Science Center, which in September 1994 estab- 

 lished a steering committee to help plan the workshop. 

 The steering committee was composed of relevant 

 experts, including a Marine Mammal Commission 

 representative. The Regional Association for Re- 

 search on the Gulf of Maine, headquartered at Dart- 

 mouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, was 

 contracted to convene the workshop. 



Because of the broad range and complexity of 

 relevant topics, it was not possible to complete the 

 preparatory work and hold the workshop by 30 April 

 1995, as specified in the amendments. On 3 May 

 1995 a planning meeting was held at the Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachu- 

 setts. Participants included representatives of the 

 Service, the Commission, the Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency, the New England coastal states, the 

 fishing industry, the academic community, and the 

 environmental community. Following the meeting, 

 the Northeast Fisheries Science Center drafted a 

 workshop prospectus based on input from the steering 

 committee and the planning meeting participants. 



The draft prospectus was forwarded to the Marine 

 Mammal Commission on 13 July 1995. The Commis- 



sion, in consultation with its Committee of Scientific 

 Advisors, reviewed the draft and forwarded its com- 

 ments to the National Marine Fisheries Service on 1 

 August 1995. The Commission noted that there 

 appeared to be inconsistencies between the workshop 

 objective and the terms of reference described in the 

 prospectus. The prospectus indicated that the work- 

 shop objective was to assess human-caused factors 

 affecting the Gulf of Maine and to recommend a 

 program of research and management to restore or 

 maintain the health and stability of the Gulf. Howev- 

 er, the proposed workshop terms of reference indicat- 

 ed that the principal objective was to "develop a 

 conceptual model of the Gulf of Maine that would 

 provide a way forward to a longer term ecosystem- 

 based management regime." 



In its comments the Commission noted that a 

 conceptual ecosystem model could be used to help 

 structure and focus the workshop. It suggested that at 

 least a first iteration of a conceptual model, showing 

 the key components and factors affecting the Gulf of 

 Maine ecosystem, be developed and provided to 

 participants in advance of the workshop. The Com- 

 mission also suggested ways that the workshop terms 

 of reference could be reformulated to make them 

 more useful for structuring the workshop. 



The draft prospectus indicated that much of the first 

 day of the workshop would be devoted to presentation 

 of background papers or issue papers. However, the 

 draft provided no indication of the expected content of 

 the papers. To enable it to comment substantively on 

 this aspect of the workshop, the Commission asked to 

 be advised of at least the principal points expected to 

 be addressed in the papers. 



The Commission also noted that the second day of 

 the workshop would be devoted to meetings of three 

 small working groups, but that the draft prospectus 

 did not provide the terms of reference for the working 

 groups. Likewise, the prospectus did not indicate the 

 individuals expected to make up the working groups. 

 The Commission recommended that, if it had not 

 already done so, the Service (1) develop specific 

 terms of reference for each working group, (2) 

 determine the desired composition of the working 

 groups, (3) prepare outlines of the principal points 

 expected to be addressed in each working group 



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