bank; identify additional boat speed regulations and other 

 measures needed to prevent further decline of manatee populations 

 in Florida; review measures being taken by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service to encourage foreign tuna fishing fleets to 

 reduce the incidental take of porpoise to levels comparable to 

 that achieved by the U.S. fleet; and determine how the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service's Antarctic Marine Living Resources 

 Research Program can best be used to encourage effective 

 implementation of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic 

 Marine Living Resources. 



Commission-Sponsored Research and Study Projects 



The Departments of Commerce and the Interior have primary 

 responsibility under the Marine Mammal Protection Act for 

 acquiring the biological and ecological data needed to protect 

 and conserve marine mammals and the ecosystems of which they are 

 a part. This responsibility has been delegated to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 respectively. 



As noted earlier, the Commission convenes workshops and 

 contracts for research and studies to identify and evaluate 

 threats to marine mammal populations. It also supports other 

 research necessary to further the purposes and policies of the 

 Act. Since it was established, the Commission has contracted for 

 more than 659 projects, ranging in amounts from several hundred 

 dollars to $150,000. The average contract amount has been about 

 $6,696. The total amounts of contracts awarded have been: 



*Three-month transition period. 



From time to time, the Commission's investment in research 

 activities is in the form of transfers of funds to and from other 

 Federal agencies, particularly the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Minerals 

 Management Service. When such funds are transferred from the 

 Commission to another agency, the Commission provides detailed 



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