1 August Interior, commenting to the Fish and Wildlife Service on the status of West Indian 



manatees in Florida and recommending that the Service: (1) work with the State of 

 Florida to acquire lands along the lower Sebastian River as a possible addition to 

 the Pelican Islands National Wildlife Refuge; (2) appoint a person to serve as 

 manatee coordinator for the Service in the Jacksonville, Florida, Field Office, and 

 that two additional staff members be hired to help implement the manatee Recovery 

 Plan; (3) increase the budget for the Sirenia Project by at least $150,000 for each of 

 the next five years to expand radio-tagging studies; and (4) provide an additional 

 $20,000 to the Sirenia Project to help develop a geographic information system for 

 manatees. 



2 August Commerce, scientific research permit application, Southwest Fisheries Center. 



4 August Commerce, commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on proposed rules 



to establish marine mammal mortality performance standards for tuna purse seine 

 vessel operators; noting, among other things, that prior to 1989 U.S. tuna fishermen 

 were allowed to conduct sundown sets, which have a higher mortality than daylight 

 sets and which are now prohibited without special permission; and recommending 

 that the Service exclude such sets from the data used to calculate the five-year 

 average against which performance is judged. 



14 August Interior, scientific research permit application, Fish and Wildlife Service. 



14 August Interior, scientific research permit application, California Department of Fish and 



Game. 



15 August Commerce, public display permit application, Golden Nugget-Strip Corp. 



15 August Commerce, commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on a public display 



permit application; seeking an explanation as to why certain actions were taken 

 before the Commission had responded to the Service's request for comments; and 

 recommending that the Service suspend authorization to collect animals under the 

 permit unless it had: consulted with the applicant to determine if there was an 

 alternative maintenance plan that would be less stressful for the animals; made 

 collection of animals contingent on construction and inspection of temporary 

 facilities; and determined if the proposed holding facility was safe and in compliance 

 with requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 



24 August Commerce, commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on a discussion 



paper on Permit Policies and Procedures for Scientific Research and Public 

 Display; recommending that: introductory chapters be updated to provide a 

 resource document on the permit process; the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

 Service's marine mammal care and maintenance regulations be amended or 

 augmented; the legal interpretation of the status of progeny from pre- Act marine 

 mammals held in captivity be reviewed; the Federal agencies sharing responsibility 

 for marine mammal management develop strategies to improve communication and 

 administrative consistency in the permit process; and suggesting that the Service 

 determine whether and under what conditions it would be appropriate to capture 

 and temporarily maintain marine mammals pending completion of a permanent 

 facility. 



25 August Commerce, public display permit applications, Sea Life Park and John G. Shedd 



Aquarium. 



29 August Commerce, scientific research permit application, Southwest Fisheries Center. 



7 September Commerce, scientific research permit application, Kenneth S. Norris, Randall S. Wells, 

 Jan S. Ostman, Carl R. Schilt, and William T. Doyle. 



11 September Department of the Air Force, commenting on the Draft Environmental Impact 

 Statement for the Construction and Operation of Space Launch Complex 7 at 

 Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; noting, among other things, that the DEIS 

 does not provide a complete assessment of possible impacts of the proposed action 

 on marine mammals; suggesting that it expand the proposed action to include both 

 short- and long-term monitoring studies to verify predicted effects and detect 



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