concern that there were several unresolved issues regarding 
the substantive elements of the research program and the 
mechanism and schedule for resolving them that warranted 
attention. In particular, the Commission noted that: the 
projected budget for tuna-porpoise activities beyond FY 81 
was unclear; there appeared to be no plans for research on 
the effects of chase and capture, on alternative fishing 
techniques, or on questions about species proportions; there 
were no plans for the use of any vessels in 1981 to resolve 
questions about survey methods; some alternative scenarios 
should be developed for the use of satellite tags and disc 
tags; a schedule should be developed for decisions to be 
made concerning an aerial survey in 1983 and for consultations 
with interested parties concerning those decisions; and 
there appeared to be no specific plans for scheduled consultations 
with representatives of the tuna industry, the Inter-American 
Tropical Tuna Commission, the Commission, or other interested 
parties so as to solicit suggestions on proposed efforts and 
evaluate the results of those efforts before proceeding with 
the next stage of the program. The Commission indicated 
that it believed that efforts to reach agreement upon a 
cooperative, goal-oriented research program were especially 
important in light of the questions identified during the 
administrative hearings and the final decision of the Administrator 
that established a five-year regime and called upon the 
Service to determine whether it is feasible to reduce the 
quotas, make a complete assessment of the stocks by 1984, and 
propose modifications of the regulations if evidence suggests 
that affected populations are disadvantaged by the permitted 
taking. The Commission therefore recommended that the Service 
take steps to schedule reviews of the various aspects of the 
tuna-porpoise research program to be conducted within the next 
five years so as to achieve as much consensus as possible on 
the direction and conduct of a coordinated research program. 
The Service responded by letter of 2 December 1980 
providing additional information and commenting on a number 
of issues about which the Commission had expressed concern. 
The Service expressed agreement with the Commission's comments 
and recommendations concerning the desirability of scheduled 
consultations between the Service, the Commission, and other 
interested parties, while suggesting that the schedule for 
many such consultations depends upon the progress of the 
subject research efforts. It also noted that cooperative 
research efforts on specific projects had_been and would 
continue to be conducted but the Service expressed the view 
that a more comprehensive cooperative government/industry 
research program was not feasible since there is generally 
little overlap in specific projects to which more than one 
party was able to commit resources. The Service suggested 
