CHAPTER II 



IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 1988 AMENDMENTS TO THE 

 MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act was enacted in 1972 to 

 protect and encourage the growth of marine mammal populations to 

 the greatest extent feasible, commensurate with sound resource 

 management policies. The Act provides that the primary objective 

 of marine mammal management is to maintain the health and 

 stability of the marine ecosystem. Whenever consistent with that 

 objective, it is the goal of the Act to obtain optimum 

 sustainable marine mammal populations while keeping in mind the 

 carrying capacity of the habitat. 



Since 1972, the Act has been amended several times, most 

 recently in 1988. Among the more important substantive 

 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act enacted in 1988 

 were: an interim exemption from the Act's taking prohibition for 

 commercial fisheries; new requirements for conducting status 

 reviews and preparing conservation plans for depleted species; 

 revisions to the statutorily mandated tuna-porpoise program; 

 creation of permit provisions for activities designed to enhance 

 the survival and recovery of marine mammal populations and 

 stocks; revision of the requirements for public display and 

 scientific research permits; and a directive to conduct a study 

 of the 1987-1988 die-off of bottlenose dolphins in the North 

 Atlantic Ocean. Implementation of these amendments is discussed 

 below. 



Interim Exemption for Commercial Fisheries 



A Court of Appeals ruling in Kokechik Fishermen's 

 Association v. Secretary of Commerce . 839 F.2d 795 (D.C. Cir. 

 1988) invalidated a permit issued to the Federation of Japan 

 Salmon Fisheries Cooperative Association by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service to incidentally catch Dall's porpoise during 

 the course of commercial salmon fishing in U.S. waters. The 

 ruling overturned a longstanding National Marine Fisheries 

 Service interpretation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act permit 

 provisions. (For further discussion of this case, see Chapter 

 VII of this Report.) The Court's decision cast doubt on the 

 Service's ability to issue incidental take permits for other 

 fisheries, including several domestic fisheries whose permits 

 were to expire at the end of 1988. 



In response to the Kokechik decision and in anticipation of 

 the need to amend the incidental take provisions of the Act, 

 representatives of the U.S. fishing industry and the environ- 

 mental community began meeting late in 1987 to formulate a joint 



