From Massachusetts to Alaska and California to Florida, fishing 

 vessels and marine mammals are frequently in the same place at 

 the same time for much the same reasons. Given the circum- 

 stances, we have managed to share the oceans with remarkably 

 few disastrous consequences. That we have been able to do it at all 

 is largely due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 



On the other hand, the history of the Act has been in some ways 

 a roller-coaster ride. In 1988, following the now-famous Kokechik 

 decision, we faced a crisis. We needed to find a way to keep our 

 domestic fishing industry in business while still maintaining the 

 goals of the Act. To the uninitiated, the Court's decision may have 

 been back-page news, but for the National Marine Fisheries Serv- 

 ice, it meant administrative chaos, and for many fishermen it 

 spelled potential financial ruin. 



The 1988 amendments to the Act were enacted as a result of that 

 decision. Many of you sitting in this room today were sitting in this 

 room then. This committee's response to the Kokechik decision was 

 to give our fishing industry a five-year exemption from the take 

 prohibitions of the Act and to give NMFS a mandate to collect 

 better data on incidental take interactions and marine mammal 

 populations during the same period. 



It is fair to say, I think, that we haven't come as far as we would 

 have liked during the past five years. We still don't know all we 

 need to know about levels of incidental take or the status of some 

 marine mammal species, and we certainly have a long way to go in 

 terms of gear modification and incidental take mitigation. But we 

 have made progress, and we have a proposal before us today that 

 hopefully addresses some of the unknowns. 



I am encouraged by the fact that representatives from the fish- 

 ing industry and the environmental community have been meeting 

 to discuss their similarities and their differences in response to this 

 difficult issue. We all have our backs to the wall on the reauthor- 

 ization. The September 30 deadline on the existing exemption pro- 

 gram will be very quickly upon us, and we have work to do. 



Mr. Studds. Does the gentleman from Delaware have a state- 

 ment? 



Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have statements by 

 the Honorable Jack Fields and the Honorable James Saxton which 

 I would like to submit for the record since they could not be here 

 at the beginning of the session if I could, and I really do not have a 

 statement except to say that, obviously, there has been tremendous 

 conflict over the years between the fishing industry and those who 

 protect marine mammals. And it is a very difficult subject to make 

 proper findings in. It takes almost a Solomon-like mind to be able 

 to resolve these things, and I think for that reason the testimony of 

 the witnesses here today and those interested in the subject are of 

 vital importance to all of us. I look forward to hearing all that I 

 can today. Thank you. 



Statement of Hon. Jack Fields, a U.S. Representative from Texas, and 

 Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that the Committee is starting the process for the 

 reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). 



