TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Executive Summary i 



I . introduction 1 



Background 1 



Personnel 1 



Funding 2 



II. Implementation of the 1988 Amendments to the 



Marine Mammal Protection Act 3 



Interim Exemption for Commercial Fisheries 3 



Status Reviews and Conservation Plans 8 



The Tuna-Porpoise Program 9 



Research, Display, and Enhancement Permits 10 



Bottlenose Dolphin Study 12 



III. Species of Special Concern 13 



West Indian Manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) 13 



Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi ) 29 



The California Sea Otter Population 



( Enhydra lutris) 37 



North Pacific Fur Seal ( Callorhinus ursinus) 45 



Steller Sea Lion ( Euroetopias jubatus) 49 



Humpback Whale ( Meqaptera novaeanqliae ) 51 



Northern Right Whale (Eubalaena qlacialis ) 56 



Bowhead Whale ( Balaena mysticetus ) 58 



Bottlenose Dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) 61 



Gulf of California Harbor Porpoise 



(Phocoena sinus ) 72 



Hector's Dolphin ( Cephalorhynchus hector i ) 74 



IV. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill/ Prince William Sound, 



Alaska 75 



Assessment and Mitigation of Impacts on 



Marine Mammals 75 



Oil Spill Legislation 83 



V. International Aspects of Marine Mammal Protection 



and Conservation 85 



International Whaling Commission (IWC) 85 



Conservation and Protection of Marine Mammals 



in the Southern Ocean 95 



Convention on International Trade in Endangered 



Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Ill 



Cartagena Convention 114 



VII 



