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and tribulations myself. While I do not have anything additional 

 to share with you regarding the current deliberations with 

 representatives from the fishing industry, I am encouraged to 

 also report that I feel we are making progress. Rome wasn't 

 built in a day so we are heading out to Seattle for another round 

 of negotiations this coming weekend. We hope to have something 

 to report to you in June. 



Prior to that time, I would like to submit for your 

 consideration some thoughts and recommendations to start the 

 debate. My comments on the MMPA will be limited to the Marine 

 Mammal Exemption Program (MMEP) and what must follow. Five years 

 ago, the fishing industry and the conservation community engaged 

 in an arduous set of negotiations that culminated in the MMEP 

 affectionately known as the "Fish Fix". In exchange for a five 

 year exemption from incidental take permit requirements of the 

 MMPA, the fishing industry agreed to aggressively push for full 

 registration of the U.S. commercial fishing fleet and 

 comprehensive data collection efforts and educational programs to 

 teach fishers how to reduce their marine mammal take in the 

 course of commercial fishing operations. The National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS) agreed to aggressively pursue Optimal 

 Sustainable Population (OSP) for all marine mammals under their 

 jurisdiction. As we heard earlier, it was this dearth of 

 scientific information that had been the basis for the judge's 

 opinion in the Kokechik decision prompting the 1988 negotiation. 

 Through this collection of data, NMFS agreed to assemble a 



