To reduce ship collision risks, multi-agency efforts were continued in 1998 to warn ships 

 of right whale locations. Further, the U.S. Coast Guard, acting on behalf of the United States, 

 put forward within the International Maritime Organization a mandatory reporting system 

 proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with Commission assistance 

 for ships transiting the population's calving and feeding grounds. Expected to go into effect in 

 July 1999, this will require large commercial ships transiting these areas to contact shore stations 

 for information on right whale protection measures. 



To reduce entanglement risks, the Service adopted a take reduction plan in 1998 that 

 includes measures to (1) deploy a team to free any right whales seen entangled, (2) design 

 fishing gear less likely to entangle whales, and (3) regulate fishing in right whale critical 

 habitats. In 1998 one entangled right whale was rescued, and research on fishing gear identified 

 some promising design changes that might reduce entanglement risks. Although regulations 

 were adopted to manage gillnet and lobster fishing at times and in areas in which right whales 

 are most likely to occur, the potential effectiveness of the regulations seems limited. 



Funding for right whale recovery work has been inadequate. Even with substantial 

 increases in support by the National Marine Fisheries Service and other federal agencies, many 

 essential recovery tasks have been unfunded or underfunded. Therefore, in 1996 the 

 Commission suggested that a right whale trust fund be established to help increase support. 

 Recognizing the limited funding available for conservation work on large whales, Senator Judd 

 Gregg asked the Commission for drafting assistance with a bill to establish a National Whale 

 Conservation Fund within the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to encourage and direct 

 funding from private and industry sources for conservation efforts. The Commission helped, 

 and a bill entitled the National Whale Conservation Fund Act of 1998 was introduced by Senator 

 Gregg and Senator Ted Stevens in June 1998. Later passed by Congress and signed into law 

 by the President, the Act directs the Foundation to establish the fund in cooperation with the 

 Marine Mammal Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This 

 is being done. 



In November 1998 the Commission conducted a review of right whale recovery efforts. 

 Noting the significant progress over the past two years, the Commission commended the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, the Coast Guard, and the Navy for their many constructive 

 actions. The Commission also recommended that the Service increase its base-level funding 

 request for right whale recovery to at least $1,385 million annually for the foreseeable future 

 to meet ongoing program needs, including the operation of the mandatory ship reporting system, 

 research on fishing gear modifications, efforts to disentangle right whales, aimual right whale 

 surveys in critical habitats, maintenance of the right whale photoidentification catalog, and the 

 implementation of a satellite-linked tracking program to better identify essential right whale 

 habitat. The Commission also wrote to the Minister of Canada's Department of Fisheries and 

 Oceans urging that the department increase support for right whale recovery work in Canada. 



Gulf of Maine Harbor Porpoises — Gulf of Maine harbor porpoises are a discrete 

 harbor porpoise stock found in coastal waters from the Bay of Fundy, Canada, to North 



VI 



