The interim exemption expires on 1 October 1993. In December 1992, the National 
Marine Fisheries Service provided Congress a proposed regime to govern interactions 
between marine mammals and commercial fisheries after 1 October 1993. It is expected 
that Congress will examine the issue and, as appropriate, act upon the Service’s proposal 
in 1993. The proposed regime and actions taken by the Commission to further its 
development are discussed in this chapter. 
The interim exemption does not apply to the eastern tropical Pacific tuna purse seine 
fishery for yellowfin tuna. Actions taken to reduce and eliminate dolphin mortality 
incidental to that fishery are also discussed. 
Since the mid-1970s, there have been alarming declines in populations of northern 
fur seals, Steller sea lions, harbor seals, and certain species of sea birds in parts of the 
Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Efforts to assess and describe the causes of these declines 
are also discussed in this chapter. 
International Aspects of Marine Mammal Protection and Conservation 
(Chapter V) 
The Marine Mammal Protection Act directs the Commission to review and provide 
advice to the Secretary of State and other Federal officials on international arrangements 
affecting marine mammals and their habitat. In 1992, relevant Commission activities 
focused on completing a reference volume of treaties and international agreements, the 
regulation of whaling by the International Whaling Commission, high seas driftnet fisheries, 
and conservation of marine mammals and their habitat in the Southern Ocean. 
Compendium of Treaties and International Agreements — While cooperative 
international efforts to protect the environment, including marine life and habitat, are usually 
based upon the provisions of treaties or other international agreements, there is no recent 
compendium of these and related documents. To address this deficiency, the Marine 
Mammal Commission began work in mid-1991 to compile, with the help of an outside 
Advisory Board, a compendium of documents bearing on environmental protection with an 
emphasis on marine matters. Work continued through 1992 and the compendium will be 
published in mid-1993. It will include full texts of more than 375 documents, including 
more than 175 treaties and agreements. Many agencies and organizations, particularly the 
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and the Treaty 
Affairs Office of the Department of State, have provided valuable advice and support. 
Commercial Whaling — The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is 
responsible for the international regulation of commercial whaling. Because regulation was 
ineffectual for so many years, most exploited whale stocks were reduced to dangerously low 
levels. In 1986, an IWC moratorium on commercial whaling took effect; the moratorium 
was to allow stocks to recover and to provide time to review management practices. Since 
1986, the IWC’s Scientific Committee has conducted a comprehensive assessment of 
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