MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



request for the program, the Commission was con- 

 cerned that continued support for fundamental recov- 

 ery tasks remained uncertain, long-term planning 

 efforts were being gravely compromised, and the 

 Service's long-term commitment to leading coopera- 

 tive recovery efforts appeared uncertain. 



To redress this situation, the Marine Mammal 

 Commission's 21 December 1998 letter recommended 

 that the Service increase its annual base-level funding 

 request for the right whale recovery program to at 

 least Si. 385 million for the foreseeable future. The 

 Commission based this recommendation on the need 

 to ensure continued support for the following funda- 

 mental ongoing tasks: archiving and analyzing photo 

 catalog data ($100,000); providing an appropriate 

 share of costs for annual right whale surveys off 

 Florida and Georgia ($250,000), off Massachusetts 

 ($160,000), and in the Bay of Fundy ($25,000); 

 providing an appropriate share of costs for operating 

 a mandatory ship reporting system in the species' 

 calving grounds and key feeding areas ($125,000); 

 continuing efforts to disentangle right whales and 

 develop fishing gear less likely to entangle whales 

 ($325,000); developing and maintaining a right whale 

 geographic information system ($50,000); implement- 

 ing a satellite telemetry program ($150,000); and 

 providing reasonable flexibility to address other short- 

 term projects, studies, emergencies, or needs on an 

 annual basis ($200,000). 



As noted above, the Service's fiscal year 1999 

 budget included no funding for certain important 

 tasks, including some recommended by the Commis- 

 sion in 1996. For example, there were no plans to 

 help support right whale surveys in the Bay of Fundy, 

 to initiate a telemetry program to track whales using 

 satellite-linked radio tags, to conduct surveys of right 

 whales off the Chesapeake Bay, to help support efforts 

 to investigate the use of active sonar to detect whales, 

 or to study noise levels and the behavior of whales in 

 front of approaching vessels. To address these tasks 

 during the coming year without affecting other high- 

 priority work already planned, the Commission 

 recommended that the Service, in consultation with 

 the Commission, develop a supplemental budget 

 request. 



Finally, as noted above, the Commission's 21 

 December 1998 letter to the Service noted that the 

 National Whale Conservation Fund Act of 1998 

 provided a valuable mechanism to encourage and 

 direct financial contributions from private and corpo- 

 rate entities to whale conservation programs, including 

 the right whale program. To meet this goal, an initial 

 infusion of funds is needed to pay start-up costs, such 

 as hiring a fund director. To initiate fund operations, 

 the Commission therefore recommended that the 

 Service ask the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration to provide $250,000 to the National 

 Fish and Wildlife Foundation for deposit in the 

 National Whale Conservation Fund. The Commission 

 noted that this one-time expendiuire would produce 

 many times that amount to help carry out essential 

 recovery work for right whales and other large 

 whales. 



As indicated above, the Coast Guard has become 

 an essential partner in many recovery activities. In 

 particular, it has contributed aircraft and substantial 

 funding to help carry out early warning system 

 surveys to alert mariners of the presence of whales in 

 the calving grounds and key feeding areas, broadcast 

 whale advisories to mariners over its NAVTEX and 

 voice radio systems, helped develop the proposal for 

 a mandatory ship reporting system in key right whale 

 habitats, and sought approval for the system from the 

 International Maritime Organization. It also has 

 provided vessel and air support to retrieve floating 

 right whale carcasses and deploy whale disentangle- 

 ment teams, helped fund the production of educational 

 materials on right whales for mariners and distributed 

 those materials, enforced related fishery and whale 

 protection regulations, and participated in meetings of 

 the regional right whale implementation teams. 



From presentations at the Commission's 1998 

 review, it was clear that the Coast Guard was giving 

 a high level of attention to all these areas. On 3 

 December 1998 the Commission wrote to the Coast 

 Guard noting the importance of these contributions to 

 the right whale recovery program and commending 

 the Coast Guard for its constructive, well-placed 

 support. The Commission noted the Coast Guard's 

 important role in securing approval of the proposed 

 regional mandatory ship reporting system by the 

 IMO's Subcommittee on Safety of Navigation. The 



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