MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
Alaska and California; Steller sea lions; West Indian 
manatees; the tuna-porpoise issue; high seas driftnet 
fisheries; other marine mammal-fisheries interactions; 
the disturbance of marine animals by military activi- 
ties; the possible effects of high-energy, low-frequen- 
cy sound on marine mammals; and entanglement of 
marine mammals in lost and discarded fishing gear 
and other marine debris. 
The Commission, members of its Committee of 
Scientific Advisors, and its staff also convened, co- 
sponsored, provided background information for, 
and/or participated in meetings and workshops to: 
¢ review elements of the National Marine Fisheries 
Service’s Hawaiian monk seal research program; 
e review U.S. domestic policy concerning the possi- 
ble resumption of commercial whaling and the 
revision of the 1946 Convention for the Regulation 
of Whaling; 
¢ develop contingency plans and review efforts to 
determine causes of unusual deaths of bottlenose 
dolphins along the Texas coast; 
¢ develop research programs and review existing 
data on the effects of high-energy, low-frequency 
sound on marine mammals; 
e review advancements in marine mammal tagging 
and tracking technology; 
¢ determine site-specific monitoring programs neces- 
sary to ensure that offshore oil and gas activities 
have negligible effects on marine mammals; 
¢ evaluate applications for permits to conduct re- 
search on humpback and killer whales; 
¢ assess proposed research to identify alternative 
means for catching yellowfin tuna; 
¢ review ongoing and planned research being coordi- 
nated by the Steller Sea Lion Recovery Team; 
e review legislation, research, and management 
affecting Alaska marine mammals and indigenous 
peoples; 
¢ develop conservation plans for polar bears, walrus- 
es, and Alaska sea otters; 
¢ coordinate studies on humpback whales in Hawaii; 
e enhance cooperative U.S.-Mexican efforts to 
protect the vaquita and reduce the take of dolphins 
in the yellowfin tuna purse seine fishery; 
* assess priorities for implementing the newly adopt- 
ed right whale recovery plan; 
¢ identify and coordinate essential manatee research 
and management actions; 
¢ coordinate and improve manatee rescue and reha- 
bilitation activities; 
e plan a conference to evaluate and update basic 
principles for the conservation of wild living 
resources; 
e develop a marine debris action plan for the wider 
Caribbean region; 
¢ plan the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Fiscal 
Year 1993 marine entanglement research and 
management program; and 
¢ prepare for the 1992 meetings of the International 
Whaling Commission and its Scientific Committee. 
Commission-Sponsored Research 
and Study Projects 
The Departments of Commerce and the Interior 
have primary responsibility under the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act for acquiring biological and ecological 
data needed to protect and conserve marine mammals 
and the ecosystems of which they are a part. This 
responsibility has been delegated to the National 
Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife 
Service, respectively. 
As noted earlier, the Commission convenes work- 
shops and contracts for research and studies to help 
identify, define, and evaluate threats to marine mam- 
mals and their habitat. It also supports other research 
necessary to further the purposes and policies of the 
Act. Since it was established, the Commission has 
contracted for approximately 870 projects ranging in 
amounts from several hundred dollars to $150,000. 
The amount annually spent on research and studies 
since 1986 has averaged about $100,000. 
From time to time, the Commission’s investment 
in research activities is in the form of transfers of 
funds to and from other Federal agencies, particularly 
the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the Minerals Management 
Service. When such funds are transferred from the 
Commission to another agency, the Commission 
provides detailed scopes of work that describe precise- 
ly what the agency is to do or to have done as well as 
