MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
Domestic Program — Several modifications to the 
tuna-dolphin program for U.S. vessels were enacted 
in 1988. Specifically, restrictions were placed on 
U.S. vessels making sets that extend more than 30 
minutes after sundown; U.S. vessels were required to 
carry an observer on every fishing trip made during 
1989 and subsequent fishing seasons, unless for rea- 
sons beyond the control of the Secretary of Commerce 
an observer was not available; the use of explosives 
by U.S. fishermen to herd dolphins was prohibited; 
and performance standards designed to maintain the 
diligence and proficiency of vessel operators were 
imposed. Implementation of these provisions is 
discussed in previous annual reports. In summary, all 
of the requirements of the 1988 amendments with 
respect to the U.S. tuna fleet have been implemented. 
All that remains to be done is to issue final rules to 
replace the interim rules now in effect regarding 
vessel operator performance standards, sundown sets, 
experimental fishing permits, and the use of explosive 
devices to herd dolphins. 
National Academy of Sciences Study — The 1988 
amendments also directed the Secretary of Commerce 
to contract with the National Academy of Sciences for 
an independent review of possible alternative tuna 
fishing methods to reduce or eliminate the incidental 
take of marine mammals. This review was to have 
been completed by 8 September 1989 and the results 
submitted to Congress by 5 December 1989, along 
with a proposed plan from the National Marine Fis- 
heries Service for research, development, and imple- 
mentation of alternative fishing techniques. This 
schedule could not be met and the National Academy 
of Sciences report, Dolphins and the Tuna Industry, 
was not released until June 1992. 
After an extensive analysis the Academy panel 
members were “unable to identify any currently 
available alternative to setting nets on dolphins that is 
as efficient as dolphin seining for catching large 
yellowfin tuna.” The panel also was unable to 
identify practical modifications to gear or fishing 
techniques that could be made in the immediate future 
to reduce dolphin mortality to levels near or approach- 
ing zero. The panel therefore concentrated its efforts 
on identifying ways to achieve incremental improve- 
ments in dolphin mortality rates and on long-term 
research and regulatory options. 
102 
The panel determined that the single most impor- 
tant step to reduce dolphin mortality in the purse seine 
fishery is the improvement of operator performance. 
The panel recommended that an international meeting 
of governmental and industry representatives be 
convened to develop an educational certification and 
monitoring protocol for operators participating in the 
fishery and to identify possible incentives for improv- 
ing operator performance. The panel also identified 
short- and long-term research that might lead to im- 
provements in purse seine gear that would reduce 
incidental dolphin mortality. 
In addition, the panel recommended that an exten- 
sive research program be undertaken to explore new 
methods of harvesting large yellowfin tuna not in 
association with dolphins. Promising avenues of 
research identified by the panel include investigation 
of the behavior of tuna and dolphin at night, when 
they might not associate and it may be possible to 
catch the tuna without encircling dolphins; new 
methods of purse seining; the use of fish aggregating 
devices (FADs); and the use of oceanographic data 
obtained from satellites to locate schools of tuna. 
Comparability of Foreign Programs — As noted 
above, the Marine Mammal Protection Act was 
amended in 1984 to require that each nation exporting 
tuna to this country provide documentary evidence 
that it has adopted a program comparable to that of 
the United States and that the average rate of inciden- 
tal take by its fleet is comparable to that of the U.S. 
fleet. Failure to show that these requirements have 
been met would result in a ban on the import of tuna 
and tuna products from the nation involved. 
Dissatisfied with the Service’s implementation of 
these requirements, Congress further amended the Act 
in 1988 to provide more specific guidance as to when 
foreign tuna-dolphin programs would be considered 
comparable to the U.S. program and to force timely 
implementation. The amendments required that, to be 
found comparable, a foreign program must include 
(1) by the beginning of the 1990 fishing season, 
prohibitions on encircling pure schools of certain 
marine mammals, conducting sundown sets, and such 
other activities as are applicable to U.S. vessels; (2) 
monitoring by observers from the Inter-American 
Tropical Tuna Commission or an equivalent interna- 
