MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
In its letter transmitting the report to the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, the Commission noted that 
the workshop participants had concluded, among other 
things, that available information was insufficient to 
determine whether the observed population declines 
are related or whether they are due to natural or 
human causes or a combination of factors. The 
Commission also noted that the workshop participants 
had questioned whether data and procedures currently 
being used to establish fish catch limits provide 
adequate assurance that fisheries are not reducing 
target fish stocks to levels that would affect other 
species. In addition, the Commission noted that the 
workshop participants had pointed out that many 
agencies were carrying out related studies, but that the 
studies were not being planned or conducted coopera- 
tively and that much of the resulting data were not 
readily accessible or in a form that allowed easy 
comparison. 
With regard to the last point, workshop participants 
recommended that a directory of data and data sources 
concerning the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska be 
developed and made readily available; that a common 
data management system be developed and used to 
facilitate archiving, accessing, mapping, and integrat- 
ing marine mammal, seabird, fish, fishery, environ- 
mental, and other data; that an interagency group be 
constituted to plan and coordinate U.S. research in the 
area; that an existing forum, such as the North Pacific 
Marine Science Organization (see below) or a new 
forum be used to facilitate planning and coordinating 
international research and management programs in 
the area; and that a workshop be held to consider and 
provide advice on (a) thresholds below which exploi- 
tation of fish stocks should be prohibited to ensure 
maintenance of target, dependent, and associated 
species at optimum sustainable levels, and (b) guide- 
lines and procedures for dealing with uncertainty 
concerning the status of fish stocks and other compo- 
nents of the ecosystems of which they are a part and 
their numerical and functional relationships. 
To begin addressing these points, the Commission 
recommended in its 25 July letter, that the National 
Marine Fisheries Service give priority attention to 
developing a data directory and a more efficient 
system for archiving, accessing, and integrating data 
concerning components of the Bering Sea and the Gulf 
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of Alaska. The Commission also recommended that 
the Service consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service, 
the Minerals Management Service, the National 
Science Foundation, the Alaska Department of Fish 
and Game, and other relevant organizations to deter- 
mine if a common or otherwise integrated geographic 
information system might facilitate data management 
and analysis. 
To help determine the possible advantages and 
disadvantages of a common or coordinated geographic 
information system, the Commission contracted for a 
study to determine (a) the types of marine mammal 
and related habitat, environmental, fisheries, and other 
data being collected and held by various Federal and 
State of Alaska agencies, private institutions, and 
other organizations; (b) how these data are archived 
and can be accessed; and (c) what geographic infor- 
mation systems are now being used for data manage- 
ment and analysis. 
The contract report (see Appendix B, Hoover- 
Miller 1992) indicated that a number of Federal and 
State agencies and private institutions — including the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean 
Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest 
Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 
the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and the 
Prince William Sound Research Center — are using a 
variety of geographic information systems to archive, 
map, and analyze a broad range of data with relevance 
to conservation of marine mammals and other biota in 
the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. The report 
recommended that a meeting of appropriate represen- 
tatives of these agencies and private organizations be 
held to better determine the types of marine mammal 
and related data being collected and maintained and 
how the data are being archived and can be accessed; 
determine if the Arctic Environmental Data Directory 
being maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey will 
provide or can be modified to provide a useful source 
of marine mammal and related environmental data; 
exchange information on the hardware and software 
now being used in geographic information systems; 
and determine the possible benefits and costs of 
developing a common or interactive geographic 
information system. 
