MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



2 September 



3 September 



4 September 

 4 September 



to missile and rocket launches, aircraft test flight operations, and helicopter opera- 

 tions at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for up to five years; recommending 

 that the proposed rule be issued provided (1) continuation of the research program 

 being carried out under Permit No. 859-1373 is made a condition of the rule, (2) the 

 Service is satisfied that the research being conducted under the permit and the site- 

 specific monitoring that will be required by letters of authorization issued in accor- 

 dance with the rule are capable of detecting possible cumulative effects on the hearing 

 of individual seals and on the distribution, size and productivity of the potentially 

 affected populations, and (3) the authorized activities will be suspended, pending 

 review, if there are any indications that the activities covered by the rule are causing 

 injuries or mortality or are affecting the distribution, size, or productivity of the 

 potentially affected populations; further recommending that the Service consult with 

 scientists familiar with the demography and dynamics of harbor seals in and around 

 Vandenberg Air Force Base to ensure that the final rule includes provisions for 

 research and monitoring capable of detecting possible cumulative adverse effects; and 

 recommending that the Service advise the Air Force that, if it has not already done 

 so, it consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that missile and rocket 

 launches and other activities at Vandenberg Air Force Base will not affect sea otters 

 or critical components of their habitat in the Vandenberg area. 



Interior, scientific research permit. Mote Marine Laboratory. 



Commerce, scientific research permit, Dan Engelhaupt. 



Commerce, scientific research permit, A.W. Trites. 



Commerce, amendment of scientific research permit, Michael Castellini, Alaska 

 SeaLife Center. 



15 September 

 17 September 



Commerce, amendment of scientific research permit, Sarah Allen. 



Commerce, commenting to the National Marine Fisheries Service on a draft plan for 

 conducting research mandated by section 304 (a) of the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act, as amended by the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act; recom- 

 mending that an appropriately senior official within the Department of Commerce 

 contact his or her counterparts in Mexico and those other nations whose vessels purse 

 seine for tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific and whose cooperation is essential for 

 carrying out the research program to inform them that failure to cooperate with U.S. 

 researchers and technicians in a timely manner will be viewed as a sign of bad faith 

 and may result in the Secretary declining to make a finding under subsection (g) of 

 the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act or deferring the effective date of 

 any change in the definition of dolphin safe tuna; recommending that the Service give 

 further consideration to the possible ways in which the results of the stress-related 

 literature review might be used in making the initial finding; and recommending that 

 the Service include in the review all potentially relevant literature on stress in 

 humans. 



18 September 



Defense, commenting to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization on a Finding of 

 No Significant Impact and associated Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment 



214 



