Pollution Program Office, the National Sea Grant College Program, 

 the Naval Ocean Systems Center, the Office of Naval Research, the 

 Office of Ocean and Coastal Resources Management, the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 

 Minerals Management Service, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have had the 

 largest and most diverse marine mammal research programs. 



Responses to the 1989 survey had been received from most of 

 the agencies by December. After the information provided has 

 been compiled and verified, the Commission, in consultation with 

 its Committee of Scientific Advisors, will evaluate it and make 

 such recommendations as may be appropriate to better develop, 

 focus, and coordinate agency programs. The survey results are 

 summarized annually in the Commission sponsored report "Survey of 

 Federally-Funded Marine Mammal Research and Studies" (see below) . 



Research Program Reviews. Workshops, and Planning; Meetings 



In 1989, the Commission, in consultation with its Committee 

 of Scientific Advisors, reviewed, commented on, and/or made 

 recommendations on actions concerning: the Hawaiian monk seal, 

 the North Pacific fur seal, the bottlenose dolphin, the Steller 

 sea lion, the West Indian manatee, California and Alaska sea 

 otter populations, the tuna/porpoise issue, other marine mammal- 

 fisheries interactions, and entanglement of marine mammals in 

 lost and discarded fishing gear and other marine debris. In 

 addition, the Commission convened, co-sponsored, and/or 

 participated in meetings and workshops to: review and evaluate 

 efforts to implement the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan; 

 develop recovery plans for endangered right and humpback whales; 

 describe programs that should be initiated to identify and 

 protect important polar bear habitats and to minimize the 

 possibility that polar bears will be attracted to and shot in 

 order to protect workers at oil drill sites along the Arctic 

 coast of Alaska; begin development of a research plan to assess 

 the impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on marine mammals and 

 other wildlife; continue efforts to develop a coordinated, 

 interagency Arctic research program; determine critical data 

 needs with regard to marine mammals and sea turtles in the Gulf 

 of Mexico; review the Southeast Fisheries Center's Marine Mammal 

 Research Program; determine how the National Marine Mammal 

 Stranding Program might be improved; assess available information 

 and determine additional research needed to resolve uncertainties 

 concerning the apparent link between natural biotoxins and the 

 mass mortalities of humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins along 

 the eastern coast of the United States in 1987-1988; review 

 progress and determine what more needs to be done to more 

 effectively prevent and deal with problems being caused by lost 

 and discarded fishing gear and other hazardous marine debris; 

 discuss tentative plans for development of a marine mammal tissue 



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