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STATEMENT OF 



NANCY FOSTER 



ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR FISHERIES 



NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION 



U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 



BEFORE THE 



SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES 



U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



AUGUST 4, 1993 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 



I am Nancy Foster, Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries. 

 I appreciate the opportunity to testify at today's hearing 

 concerning the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) . 



The 1988 amendments to the MMPA included section 114, which 

 provided an interim exemption to the MMPA moratorium on taking 

 marine mammals. This interim exemption allowed commercial 

 fishing operations to continue while the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS) collected information necessary to 

 determine the impact of mortality incidental to commercial 

 fishing on marine mammal populations. In many cases, that 

 mortality was not a major factor limiting marine mammal 

 populations. In some cases, however, incidental mortality was 

 large. 



In December 1992, NMFS submitted its proposed regime to govern 

 interactions between marine mammals and commercial fishing. The 

 NMFS regime was based on guidelines submitted to NMFS by the 

 Marine Mammal Commission, which prepared its guidelines in 



