MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
case of lethal research involving depleted marine 
mammals, a take may be authorized only if the Ser- 
vice first determines that the research will directly 
benefit the affected species or stock or will fulfill a 
critically important research need. 
The amendments enable the National Marine 
Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service to 
issue enhancement permits to authorize activities 
designed to contribute significantly to increasing or 
maintaining the distribution or size of a marine 
mammal population. Any such permit must be 
consistent with applicable conservation or recovery 
plans. Captive maintenance of depleted marine 
mammals under this authority is permitted only if the 
Service (1) finds that such maintenance is likely to 
contribute to the survival or recovery of the species or 
stock; (2) determines that the expected benefit to the 
species or stock outweighs the likely benefit of 
alternatives that do not involve the removal of animals 
from the wild; and (3) requires that animals removed 
from the wild and their progeny be returned to their 
natural habitat as soon as feasible. 
As discussed above, the National Marine Fisheries 
Service has undertaken a comprehensive review of its 
permit program. One issue being examined is how to 
implement the 1988 amendments. For example, the 
Service is examining what constitutes an acceptable 
education or conservation program at a public display 
facility; how to determine if proposed research is 
bona fide and non-duplicative; and how to implement 
the new enhancement authority. The Service expects 
to publish proposed rules to implement these provi- 
sions in mid-1993. The Fish and Wildlife Service 
continues to implement the 1988 amendments regard- 
ing permits on an ad hoc basis and intends to defer 
revision of its permit regulations until it has reviewed 
the proposed regulations being drafted by the National 
Marine Fisheries Service. 
The first application for a permit under the new 
enhancement authority was received from the Jackson- 
ville, Florida, field office of the Fish and Wildlife 
Service in 1992. The office requested an enhance- 
ment permit authorizing it to capture, treat, rehabili- 
tate, and as feasible release distressed manatees in 
waters of the southeastern United States and Puerto 
Rico. By letter of 28 September 1992, the Commis- 
186 
sion noted that, while it would be desirable and 
appropriate to provide the Service’s Field Office with 
authority to conduct, authorize, and coordinate mana- 
tee rescue and rehabilitation efforts, it was not clear 
that a permit was the most appropriate way to do this. 
The Commission explained that all of the requested 
activities could be accomplished without a permit 
under the authority of section 109(h)(1) of the Marine 
Mammal Protection Act. The Commission noted that 
authorizing rescue and rehabilitation activities under 
section 109(h)(1) would be administratively easier to 
accomplish, easier to modify should the need arise, 
and consistent with the pending legislation (which was 
subsequently enacted — see Chapter VI) to provide 
for a coordinated response to marine mammal strand- 
ings. At the end of 1992, the Fish and Wildlife 
Service had not completed processing the permit 
request. 
Review of Humpback Whale and 
Killer Whale 
Scientific Research Permits 
Applications for permits to take humpback whales 
and killer whales for purposes of scientific research in 
Hawaii and Alaska have increased in recent years. A 
total of 16 researchers are authorized to conduct 
studies on humpback or killer whales in Alaska and/or 
Hawaii. Combined, the researchers are authorized to 
“take” up to 6,680 humpback whales and 1,030 killer 
whales per year while conducting photo-identification, 
radio-tagging, acoustic, and genetic studies and aerial 
and vessel surveys. 
The 1988 amendments to the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act require that applicants for scientific 
research permits provide evidence that the planned 
research is bona fide and not unnecessarily duplica- 
tive. The National Marine Fisheries Service, in 
consultation with the Marine Mammal Commission, 
must be able to conclude from the information provid- 
ed by the applicants that the proposed studies consti- 
tute bona fide scientific research, are not unnecessari- 
ly duplicative, and will not, individually or collective- 
ly, disadvantage the affected species or stock. With 
respect to humpback whales listed as endangered 
under the Endangered Species Act, there also must be 
