CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION 



Background 



This is the seventeenth Annual Report of the Marine Mammal 

 Commission, covering the period from 1 January through 

 31 December 1989. It is being submitted to Congress pursuant to 

 section 204 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. 



Established under Title II of the Act, the Marine Mammal 

 Commission is an independent agency of the Executive Branch. It 

 is charged with the responsibility for developing, reviewing, and 

 making recommendations on actions and policies for all Federal 

 agencies with respect to marine mammal protection and conserva- 

 tion and for carrying out a research program. 



Personnel 



The Commission consists of three part-time Commissioners who 

 are appointed by the President. The Marine Mammal Protection Act 

 requires that the Commissioners be knowledgeable in marine 

 ecology and resource management. During 1989, the Commissioners 

 were: Robert Eisner, Ph.D., Fairbanks, Alaska; William W. Fox, 

 Jr., Ph.D., (Chairman), Miami, Florida; and Francis H. Fay, 

 Ph.D., Fairbanks, Alaska. 



The Commission's full-time senior staff members are: John 

 R. Twiss, Jr., Executive Director; Robert J. Hofman, Ph.D., 

 Scientific Program Director; David W. Laist, Policy and Program 

 Analyst; Michael L. Gosliner, Esq., General Counsel; Steven L. 

 Swartz, Ph.D., Deputy Scientific Program Director; Melinda M. 

 Paul, Administrative Officer; Jeannie K. Drevenak, Staff 

 Assistant in charge of permits; and Eileen C. Shoemaker, Staff 

 Assistant in charge of publications. 



The Commission Chairman, with the concurrence of the other 

 Commissioners, appoints the nine members of the Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals, a committee of scientists 

 statutorily required to be knowledgeable in marine ecology and 

 marine mammal affairs. At the end of 1989, its members were: 

 Robert L. Brownell, Jr., Ph.D., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 

 Douglas G. Chapman, Ph.D. (Chairman), University of Washington; 

 Murray L. Johnson, M.D., Burke Museum, University of Washington; 

 Burney J. LeBoeuf, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz; 

 Jack W. Lentfer, Homer, Alaska; Marc Mangel, Ph.D., University of 

 California, Davis; William Medway, Ph.D., D.V.M. , University of 

 Pennsylvania; John E. Reynolds, III, Ph.D., Eckerd College; and 

 Tim D. Smith, Ph.D., National Marine Fisheries Service. During 

 1989, the following members completed their terms of service on 



