6 



STATEMENT OF ROBERT HOFMAN, SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM DIREC- 

 TOR, MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION; ACCOMPANIED BY MI- 

 CHAEL GOSLINER, GENERAL COUNSEL 



STATEMENT OF ROBERT HOFMAN 



Dr. HoFMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the 

 subcommittee. It is a pleasure to be here. My name is Robert 

 Hofman. I am the Scientific Program Director for the Marine 

 Mammal Commission. With me is Michael Gosliner who is the 

 Commission's general counsel. I have submitted a written state- 

 ment for the record, and I will just briefly explain the Commis- 

 sion's views concerning the National Marine Fisheries Service's 

 proposed regime to govern interactions between marine mammals 

 and commercial fishing operations after the current interim ex- 

 emption expires. 



The Service's proposed regime is based upon and is largely con- 

 sistent with the recommended guidelines provided by the Commis- 

 sion in July 1990. The Commission's recommended guidelines, in 

 turn, were based upon guidance provided by Congress in 1988 as 

 set forth in Section 114 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. My 

 written statement provides a more detailed description of the Com- 

 mission's recommended guidelines and the events leading up to the 

 decision in 1988 to temporarily exempt U.S. fishermen from the 

 provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act regulating the in- 

 cidental take of marine mammals in the course of commercial fish- 

 ing operations. Further details are provided in the Commission's 

 annual reports to Congress. 



The Commission believes that the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service's proposal is both practical and conceptually sound. If ac- 

 cepted and implemented effectively, the proposed regime would 

 benefit fishermen by streamlining the process for getting authority 

 to take marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing oper- 

 ations and by authorizing under certain conditions incidental take 

 from population stocks whose status is uncertain and from stocks 

 listed as endangered, threatened, and depleted. The proposal would 

 benefit marine mammals by reducing the possibility or the risk 

 that incidental take in fisheries by itself and in combination with 

 other types of non-natural mortality would cause any species or 

 population stock to be reduced or to be maintained below its maxi- 

 mum net productivity level, the lower bound of the Optimum Sus- 

 tainable Population range. 



Both fisheries and marine mammals would benefit from the pro- 

 posed program to identify ways whereby fishing gear and practices 

 might be altered to avoid or reduce incidental taking. Fisheries 

 would benefit by reduction of regulation, by reduction of gear 

 damage caused when marine mammals are caught, and by reduc- 

 tion of the time that fishermen must spend removing and dealing 

 with marine mammals caught in fishing gear. Marine mammals 

 would benefit by reduction of incidental mortality and serious 

 injury to the lowest levels practicable. 



The Commission believes that there is particular merit in the 

 process that the Service has proposed to assess and monitor the 

 status of the affected marine mammal stocks and to identify priori- 

 ty research and monitoring needs. The process will ensure critical 



