mined with reasonable certainty within three to five 
years, and possible ways to avoid or reduce the 
level of incidental take will be identified and 
implemented; 
* streamline and continue the vessel registration and 
reporting programs initiated under the 1988 Marine 
Mammal Protection Act amendments; 
* grant explicit authority to the Secretary of Com- 
merce to place observers aboard any commercial 
fishing vessel operating in U.S. waters; and 
¢ provide necessary funding or authorize the collec- 
tion of user fees sufficient for observer and other 
marine mammal monitoring programs. 
The Commission noted that one assumption behind 
the establishment of the interim exemption was that, 
at the end of the five-year period, sufficient informa- 
tion would be available on (1) the status of marine 
mammal stocks taken incidental to commercial fisher- 
ies, and (2) the impact of fisheries on those stocks, to 
enable the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior 
to authorize specific levels of take based upon sound 
principles of wildlife management. In developing its 
recommended guidelines, the Commission accepted 
that assumption. However, based on comments 
received on the draft guidelines, the Commission 
indicated that it was unlikely, unless additional popu- 
lation assessments were undertaken promptly by the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, that the informa- 
tion needed to make required status determinations for 
many marine mammal stocks would not be available 
by 1993. To address this problem, the Commission 
recommended in the guidelines that the Service hold 
a workshop or series of workshops by early 1991 to 
(1) review available information on the status of 
marine mammal stocks and the effects of fisheries and 
other activities on those stocks; (2) identify what 
additional information, if any, would be needed to 
make status-of-stocks and other determinations re- 
quired to authorize the incidental take of marine 
mammals by fisheries in U.S. waters after 1 October 
1993; and (3) describe the research programs neces- 
sary to obtain and analyze that information. 
The recommended guidelines also noted that 
marine mammals may be affected indirectly as well as 
91 
Chapter IV — Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions 
directly by commercial fisheries (see, for example, the 
Steller sea lion discussion in Chapter III). To mini- 
mize adverse indirect effects, the Commission recom- 
mended that the Service promulgate regulations under 
the Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
requiring Fishery Management Councils to assess and 
take into account the food requirements (and uncer- 
tainties related thereto) of marine mammals and other 
non-target species when calculating the optimal yield 
of fishery resources. Towards this end the Commis- 
sion recommended that the Service organize and hold 
a workshop or series of workshops in 1991 or 1992 to 
identify and evaluate possible procedures for assessing 
interactions and ensuring that fisheries do not directly 
or indirectly disadvantage marine mammal popula- 
tions. The Commission suggested, among other 
things, that the workshop(s) should consider the 
establishment of thresholds below which exploitation 
of fish stocks should be prohibited; guidelines and 
procedures for addressing uncertainty with respect to 
the status of and functional relationships among 
fisheries resources and other components of the 
ecosystems; and research and management programs 
needed to fill critical gaps in our knowledge of the 
structure and dynamics of marine ecosystems. 
The National Marine Fisheries Service’s 
Initial Draft Regime 
The 1988 amendments to the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act directed the Secretary of Commerce, 
after consultation with the Marine Mammal Commis- 
sion, Regional Fishery Management Councils, and 
other interested agencies and organizations, to publish 
by 1 February 1991, for public review and comment, 
a suggested regime to govern incidental taking after 1 
October 1993. The amendments mandated that the 
regime include scientifically sound guidelines to be 
used in determining permissible levels of incidental 
taking, a description of the arrangements for consulta- 
tions with other agencies and interested parties, and a 
description of the regulations and legislation necessary 
to implement the suggested regime. After consulta- 
tion with the Commission and consideration of public 
comment on the proposed regime, the Secretary was 
to provide to Congress by 1 January 1992 the sug- 
gested regime, recommendations for legislation to 
