CHAPTER II 
RESEARCH AND ‘STUDIES PROGRAM 
The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the Commission 
to conduct a continuing review of research programs conducted 
or proposed to be conducted under the authority of the Act, 
to undertake or cause to be undertaken such other studies as 
it deems necessary or desirable in connection with marine 
mammal protection and conservation, and to take every step 
feasible to prevent wasteful, duplicative research. To 
accomplish this, the Commission: conducts an annual survey 
of Federally-funded marine mammal research; reviews and 
recommends steps that should be taken to prevent duplication 
and improve the marine mammal research programs conducted or 
supported by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, 
and other Federal agencies; convenes meetings and workshops 
to identify research needs and priorities as well as to 
review, plan, and coordinate marine mammal research; and 
contracts for studies to help define and develop solutions 
to domestic and international problems affecting marine 
mammal and habitat conservation so as to complement the 
other agencies' activities which are either underway or 
contemplated. 
Survey of Federally-Funded Marine Mammal Research 
Research, directly or indirectly relevant to the conserva- 
tion and protection of marine mammals and their habitats, is 
conducted or supported by a broad range of Federal departments 
and agencies. To determine the precise nature of this 
research, how it can be used to facilitate marine mammal 
conservation and protection, and to prevent wasteful duplication, 
the Commission annually requests and reviews information on 
the marine mammal research projects being conducted, supported, 
or planned by other parts of the Federal Government. 
In 1980, the Commission requested information from 
twenty-four different Federal departments and agencies, 
seventeen of which turned out to be conducting or supporting 
research related to the conservation and protection of 
marine mammals. The organizations so identified were the 
Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, the 
Department of Energy, the Department of State, the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes 
of Health, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National 
