The amendments specify that public display permits may be 

 issued only to an applicant that offers an acceptable education 

 or conservation program, based upon professionally recognized 

 standards of the public display community, and whose facility is 

 open to the general public on a regularly scheduled basis. 

 Likewise, the amendments specify that: before issuing a 

 scientific research permit, the Service is required to determine 

 that the proposed research is essential to meeting a bona fide 

 scientific research need and does not unnecessarily duplicate 

 other research; the Service can authorize lethal take of marine 

 mammals for scientific research purposes only if the applicant 

 demonstrates that non-lethal alternatives are not feasible; and 

 the Service may authorize lethal take from depleted populations 

 only if the Service first determines that the research will 

 directly benefit the affected species or stock or fulfills a 

 critically important research need. 



The amendments provide that enhancement permits may be 

 issued to authorize activities designed to contribute 

 significantly to increasing or maintaining the distribution or 

 size of a marine mammal population. Any such permit must be 

 consistent with applicable conservation or recovery plans. 

 Captive maintenance of depleted marine mammals under this 

 authority is permitted only if the Service: (1) finds that such 

 maintenance is likely to contribute to the survival or recovery 

 of the species or stock; (2) determines that the expected benefit 

 to the species or stock outweighs the likely benefit of 

 alternatives that do not involve the removal of animals from the 

 wild; and (3) requires that animals removed from the wild and 

 their progeny be returned to their natural habitat as soon as 

 feasible. 



The authority of the Secretary or his designees to take 

 actions for the benefit of marine mammals without obtaining a 

 permit was also expanded. The Secretary may authorize the 

 importation of a marine mammal if necessary to render medical 

 treatment that is not otherwise available. Once treatment has 

 been completed, steps must be taken to return the animal to the 

 wild if it is feasible to do so. 



As discussed in Chapter XII, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service has undertaken a comprehensive review of its permit 

 program. Among the issues being examined in that review is how 

 to implement the 1988 amendments. For example, the Service is 

 examining: what constitutes an acceptable education or 

 conservation program at a public display facility; how to 

 determine if proposed research is bona fide and non-duplicative; 

 and how to implement the new enhancement authority. 



The Service published an interim policy with respect to 

 education and conservation programs on 22 May 1989. Under that 

 interim policy, the Service, when reviewing a public display 



11 



