Administration of the Permit Process 
As noted in the Commission's previous Annual Report, 
efforts undertaken in 1979 to improve the administration of 
the permit system resulted, among other things, in the 
development of a standardized reviewer's checklist to be 
utilized by both the Fish and Wildlife Service and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service in reviewing applications 
and advising applicants of needed information before transmitting 
them to the Commission and the public for review and comment. 
Plans by the Fish and Wildlife Service also included incorporating 
the checklist, as well as proposed revised permit regulations, 
into an application information package for prospective 
marine mammal permit applicants which would be similar to 
that already utilized by the National Marine Fisheries 
Service. 
On 14 March 1980, the Commission wrote to the Fish and 
Wildlife Service regarding the status of the application 
information package. The Commission noted the increasing 
need for a summary, by species, of marine mammals permanently 
removed from the wild under Fish and Wildlife Service permits 
and requested that a synopsis, similar to that developed by 
the National Marine Fisheries Service, be prepared. 
The Fish and Wildlife Service responded by letter of 30 
April acknowledging the need for such a summary, but citing 
lack of available staff time and computer capability as 
obstacles to compiling the necessary information. The 
Service suggested, however, that the information could 
possibly be gathered by an additional temporary employee to 
be hired later in the summer of 1980. With regard to the 
status of the proposed application package, the Service 
indicated that although copies of the reviewer's checklist 
had been sent to a few applicants as an aid in completing 
their applications, work on the information package and 
related permit regulations had been temporarily suspended in 
order to complete other, higher priority projects. The 
Service indicated that work on both the information package 
and revised regulations would be resumed at the earliest 
possible date. The Commission had received no further 
information concerning actions taken by the Service on any 
of the three projects by the end of 1980. 
In contrast to the Department of the Interior, the 
Department of Commerce continued to expand its computer- 
based management information system for marine mammals and 
endangered species permit data. The system provides useful 
information for statistical and management needs, including 
data necessary for the determination of permit application 
processing time and preparation of summary reports on the 
- 69 - 
