Chapter XI — Permits for Marine Mammals 
a finding that the research will directly benefit the 
stock. Making these determinations can be difficult, 
particularly when more than one investigator is 
conducting similar studies on the same species in the 
same general area. 
To increase and improve communication between 
the permit office and the researchers, and consequent- 
ly to facilitate permit processing, three meetings were 
held by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 
1992. Marine Mammal Commission staff members 
participated in each meeting. The first meeting, held 
on 18-20 August 1992 in Silver Spring, Maryland, 
was a working session consisting primarily of Nation- 
al Marine Fisheries Service staff. The participants 
planned subsequent meetings and reviewed the statuto- 
ry requirements, regulations, policy, and legal issues 
for permits under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 
The second meeting, held on 28 September 1992 in 
Seattle, Washington, was an open meeting to which 
researchers holding humpback whale or killer whale 
research permits were invited. The goals were to 
inform researchers about the purpose of the review 
and give them a chance to ask questions about the 
review, statutory requirements for permits, and the 
permitting process. 
The third meeting, held on 29-30 September 1992 
in Seattle, Washington, was a meeting of an expert 
Scientific Review Panel, which reviewed the scientific 
merits of ongoing and proposed research on both 
species in the eastern North Pacific. The panel 
reviewed and commented on specific permits, and in 
many cases, recommended return of applications to 
researchers with requests for additional information in 
order to be better able to determine whether the 
research is bona fide, not unnecessarily duplicative, 
and humane. 
Swim-with-the-Dolphin Programs 
Since 1985, the National Marine Fisheries Service 
has authorized four public display facilities to conduct 
programs in which members of the public are allowed 
to enter the water and interact with captive bottlenose 
dolphins. Because of possible health and safety risks 
187 
to both dolphin and human participants, these pro- 
grams are considered experimental, and the National 
Marine Fisheries Service has authorized them only on 
a provisional basis. 
On 25 August 1988, the Service initiated a review 
of swim-with-the-dolphin program operations and their 
effects. On 30 September 1988, the Service advised 
all public display permit holders that specific authori- 
zation was needed to conduct swim-with-the-dolphin- 
programs and that such authorizations would be issued 
only until the end of 1989, by which time the Service 
expected to have completed its review. 
On 1 November 1989, in response to considerable 
public controversy generated by these programs, the 
Service issued a Draft Environmental Impact State- 
ment concerning the effects of continued use of 
dolphins in swim programs. Commission comments 
on the draft statement recommended, among other 
things, that pending completion of the Service’s 
review, no additional animals be removed from the 
wild for swim programs and no additional swim 
programs be authorized. 
A Final Environmental Impact Statement was 
published in April 1990. Under the Service’s pre- 
ferred alternative, the four existing swim-with-the- 
dolphin programs would be continued on an experi- 
mental basis while a one-year study on the effects of 
the programs was conducted. The four permits were 
subsequently extended until 31 December 1991, and 
a workshop was convened to develop recommended 
protocols for a study or studies to determine the 
relative risks and benefits of swim-with-the-dolphin 
programs. The workshop recommended, among other 
things, that quarterly site visits be made to each swim 
program facility by a behavioral observation team and 
that these visits coincide with quarterly veterinary 
examinations of the dolphins involved in the swim 
program and control group animals. The workshop 
also recommended that the Service establish an 
advisory panel of veterinarians to review the results of 
veterinary examinations and to consult with the 
behavioral observation team on the analysis and 
interpretation of medical and behavioral data. 
On 5 December 1991 the Service requested propos- 
als from researchers interested in designing and 
