Chapter III — Marine Mammal/Fisheries Interactions 



describing what is known about physiological and 

 behavioral stress and relating it to the chase and 

 encirclement of dolphins. It was not expected that the 

 results of the review would factor directly into making 

 the initial finding on the effects of chase and encircle- 

 ment. The Service also indicated that, although some 

 relevant literature on humans would be included in the 

 review, its focus was on investigations of marine 

 mammals and non-human terrestrial mammals. 



The Service noted that it intended to concentrate its 

 efforts on determining the effects of chase and encir- 

 clement on northeastern offshore spotted dolphins and 

 eastern spinner dolphins, the two stocks most fre- 

 quently set on by tuna vessels. Nevertheless, the 

 plaimed abundance surveys would provide some data 

 on the abundance of coastal stocks, such as the coastal 

 spotted dolphin. The Service did not, however, 

 specifically address the question of whether it believed 

 the coastal spotted dolphin to be depleted or whether 

 this stock would factor into the initial finding on the 

 effects of chase and encirclement. 



The Service responded to the Commission noting 

 that the ecological studies should contribute signifi- 

 cantly to resolving what may be causing a lack of 

 recovery of depleted dolphin stocks if the abundance 

 surveys indicate that these stocks are not recovering as 

 expected. To the extent that impeded dolphin recov- 

 ery is not mirrored by changes in the physical envi- 

 ronment or by reductions in other organisms, it is 

 more likely that cryptic mortality or reduced produc- 

 tivity related to chase and encirclement is the cause. 



The Service's letter also responded to other issues 

 that had been raised by the Commission. The Service 

 provided a summary of its $3.8 million budget for the 

 dolphin studies for fiscal year 1998. The Service also 

 noted that it was in the process of calculating the 

 power of the surveys to detect changes in dolphin 

 abundance and determining whether existing tagging 

 technology and sampling methodology were such that 

 the proposed capture rate estimation study would be 

 worth pursuing. The Service indicated that it would 

 keep the Commission informed as to the progress of 

 these and other activities. 



The Service wrote again on 27 August 1998, 

 advising the Commission that it was planning to 



contract for the development of a framework for 

 determining whether chase and encirclement in the 

 purse seine tuna fishery are having a significant 

 adverse impact on eastern tropical Pacific dolphin 

 populations. The Service invited the Commission to 

 comment on the lines of evidence that would be 

 factored into the decision analysis framework. 



The Commission sent a follow-up letter on 17 

 September 1998 providing additional comments on the 

 Service's plans for conducting the research mandated 

 by the International Dolphin Conservation Program 

 Act and commenting on the decision analysis frame- 

 work. The Commission noted that the Service's 5 

 August letter had been helpful in clarifying aspects of 

 the proposed research, but that additional description 

 and explanation were needed for some projects. 



The Commission reiterated the importance of 

 establishing at the outset of the research program the 

 criteria that will be used to determine if chase and 

 encirclement of dolphins are having significant ad- 

 verse effects on any depleted dolphin stock. Toward 

 this end, the Commission expressed support for the 

 Service's decision to contract for the development of 

 statistically based decision-making criteria. The 

 Commission stressed the need for the Service to adopt 

 such criteria before the 1998 abundance survey was 

 completed so as to avoid potential claims that selection 

 of the criteria was influenced by the survey results. 



Noting its earlier comments on the need to begin 

 the necropsy sampling as soon as possible, the Com- 

 mission expressed concern that more than three 

 months had passed and, not only had the sampling not 

 begun, but the necessary agreements with the fishing 

 nations to place technicians on board fishing vessels 

 had yet to be concluded. The Commission noted the 

 difficulty that the Service had had in obtaining permits 

 from some of the tuna-fishing nations to conduct 

 dolphin surveys in their waters and questioned wheth- 

 er necropsy sampling had also been delayed by a lack 

 of cooperation of those nations with the Service's 

 research efforts. The Commission speculated that 

 some nations may be operating on the misguided 

 belief that deferring the research is somehow to their 

 advantage (i.e., that the labeling requirements for 

 dolphin-safe tuna will automatically change in March 



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