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ever taken by the U.S. Congress to recognize a valuable wildlife resource and 

 provide for its long term conservation. While not proposing to alter this 

 basic goal of the MMPA, the Committee recognized that certain inconsistencies 

 and conflicts between the MMPA and other state and federal resource laws and 

 policies often result in the inability to effectively manage for a variety of 

 marine resource uses. In Portland, Oregon on 18-19 February and 8-9 June 

 1987, the Committee met to review these issues of management of marine manmals 

 and other marine resources and to prepare this report. At the request of 

 PMFC, the Committee received technical and scientific advice from the federal 

 resource agencies with jurisdiction for marine mammals (national Marine 

 Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). A number of topics 

 were discussed and several of these were developed as proposed amendments to 

 the MMPA. 



The Cormiittee agreed that one of the primary objectives of the MMPA, the 

 use of sound resource management policies to maintain healthy and stable 

 marine ecosystems, is not currently being met in many cases involving 

 conflicts between marine mammals and other marine resources. Achievement of 

 this objective needs to be stressed. 



The Comnittee felt that the MMPA fails to address the vast differences 

 among marine mammal species, specifically with regard to their requirements 

 for effective management and conservation, and their varied levels of 

 interaction with other marine resources and human activities. The single 

 management protocol of protection for all marine manmals is not consistent 

 with sound resource management in all cases. 



The Comnittee identified the problems of the widespread perception that 

 all marine mammal populations are threatened or endangered when most are not; 

 that marine mammals are in some insurmountable fashion different from all 



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