In its letter, the Commission pointed out that further 

 studies were needed to: (1) better determine the relationship, 

 if any, between the nearshore and offshore stocks of bottlenose 

 dolphins along the east coast of the United States; (2) determine 

 the present size and productivity of the nearshore stock; and 

 (3) monitor selected indices of the nearshore stock to better 

 determine how it might have been affected by and recover from the 

 unusual mortality of 1987-88. 



The Commission noted that, in its opinion, it would be ill- 

 advised to list the nearshore mid-Atlantic bottlenose dolphin 

 stock as depleted without, at the same time, describing the steps 

 that would be taken to verify the assumptions upon which the 

 designation was based and to determine when the population no 

 longer was depleted. The Commission suggested that the 

 conservation plan, required under section 114 of the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act as amended, would be an appropriate vehicle 

 through which to address, among other things, the assumptions 

 being made by the Service and the uncertainties surrounding how 

 one would determine that the affected stock or stocks have 

 recovered. The Commission recommended that the Service develop a 

 conservation plan for the stock as soon as possible, but before 

 taking final action on the proposed depletion designation, and 

 then act promptly to implement the plan. 



At the end of 1989, the Commission was looking forward to 

 receiving and commenting on a conservation plan for the bottle- 

 nose dolphin population (s) affected by the 1987-1988 die-off. 



Issues Concerning Live-Capture of Dolphins for Public Display and 

 Scientific Research 



As noted earlier, capture of bottlenose dolphins for 

 purposes of public display and scientific research began early in 

 the 1900s and as many as 1,800 animals appear to have been taken 

 from coastal U.S. waters prior to passage of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act in 1972. In the waters of Florida alone, at least 

 600 animals were taken prior to 1972. Since that time, an 

 additional 573 animals have been collected from waters off the 

 southeastern United States under permits issued by the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. 



Despite the considerable number of animals that have been 

 removed from U.S. waters, these removals probably have not had a 

 significant adverse effect on the species as a whole. However, 

 the species does not occur uniformly throughout its range and a 

 number of more or less discrete "local" populations may exist. 

 If so, repeated captures and removal of animals from certain 

 geographic areas could have an adverse effect on these local 

 populations. Such effects could be compounded by incidental take 

 in fisheries and by disturbance and environmental degradation 



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