By separate letters both dated 5 August 1991, the 
Commission conveyed its views to the Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries 
Service. The Commission noted that while the 
Services may be unable to provide a precise formula- 
tion of what constitutes “small numbers,” they never- 
theless should be able to articulate, on a case-by-case 
basis, the rationale for determining that only small 
numbers of marine mammals will be taken incidental 
to authorized activities. The Commission recom- 
mended that as a matter of practice each request for a 
letter of authorization be reviewed to determine the 
number of marine mammals (by species and, as 
possible, age/size and sex) that could be taken in 
various ways if the activity proceeds as planned, and 
that letters of authorization subsequently issued should 
(1) specify when, where, how, and how many marine 
mammals may be taken incidentally in the course of 
the planned activities, and (2) require that the activi- 
ties be suspended if the monitoring program indicates 
that marine mammals are being taken in ways or in 
numbers that are not authorized. The Commission 
also recommended that the National Marine Fisheries 
Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service initiate 
rulemaking to amend its definition of “small num- 
bers” to clarify that this requirement is distinct from 
the “negligible impact” provision. 
As discussed in the previous annual report, in 
February 1991 the National Marine Fisheries Service 
and the Minerals Management Service cooperatively 
convened a workshop, as recommended by the Com- 
mission, to develop guidelines for site-specific moni- 
toring programs for the 1991 season. In its 5 August 
1991 letters to the two Services, the Commission 
noted that, although the February 1991 workshop had 
been useful, it did not involve all interested parties or 
address all relevant issues. Therefore the Commission 
recommended that the National Marine Fisheries 
Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the 
Minerals Management Service convene a follow-up 
workshop and that the workshop be held no later than 
the end of February 1992. 
None of the agencies responded, and by letter of 
21 November 1991 to the National Marine Fisheries 
Service, the Commission asked what was being done 
with regard to the recommended workshop. In its 
response on 6 December 1991, the Service noted that 
171 
Chapter IX — OCS Development 
it was planning to hold a workshop late in February 
1992 to review the results of the 1991 site-specific 
monitoring programs and to determine what changes 
should be made in the site-specific monitoring guide- 
lines developed at the 1991 workshop. On 24 Decem- 
ber 1991, the Fish and Wildlife Service responded to 
the Commission’s 5 August letter concerning the 
Service’s final rule regarding the incidental take of 
walrus and polar bears. The Service concurred with 
the Commission’s recommendation that a workshop be 
held to define and determine how monitoring require- 
ments can best be met, and it indicated that it would 
work with the National Marine Fisheries Service to 
organize the workshop. 
The workshop on monitoring the effects on marine 
mammals of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic was 
held 10-11 March 1992 in Seattle, Washington. The 
meeting was organized by the National Marine Fisher- 
ies Service and participants included a member of the 
Marine Mammal Commission staff as well as repre- 
sentatives of other Federal agencies, the State of 
Alaska, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Eskimo 
Whaling Commission, monitoring contractors, and the 
oil and gas industry. The purpose of the workshop 
was to provide guidance to the oil and gas industry in 
developing and implementing monitoring programs. 
Prior to the workshop, the Commission prepared 
and provided to the Service a discussion paper on 
monitoring the incidental take of marine mammals. In 
the paper (see Appendix B, Swartz and Hofman 
1991), the Commission reviewed the intent and 
relevant provisions of section 101(a)(5) of the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act, pointed out how marine 
mammals might be “taken” in the course of activities 
associated with offshore oil and gas exploration and 
development, and described the types of site-specific 
and long-term population monitoring programs that 
likely would be required to verify that such taking had 
negligible effects. The paper pointed out that respon- 
sibility for required monitoring programs should be 
shared by the responsible agencies, such as the Miner- 
als Management Service and the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, and by special-interest groups that 
are the beneficiaries of the taking activities. It also 
pointed out that monitoring programs, like basic 
research programs, should be subject to peer review 
