121 



In the 1988 MMPA reauthorization, Congress also enacted 

 a separate amendment calling for a new regime to govern the 

 incidental take of marine mammals in commercial fisheries 

 after October 1993. 7 This 1988 amendment does not affect 

 public display and scientific research. 8 Congress intended 



" [e] f f ective public display of marine mammals 

 provides an opportunity to inform the public about 

 the great aesthetic, recreational, and economic 

 significance of marine mammals and their role in 

 the marine ecosystem." S. Rep. No. 592, 100th 

 Cong., 2d Sess. 29 (1988). 



The Senate Report went on to say that 



" [t]he Committee recognizes that the recreational 

 experience is an important component of public 

 display and that public display has served a useful 

 educational purpose, exposing tens of millions of 

 people to marine mammals and thereby contributing 

 to the awareness and commitment of the general 

 public to protection of marine mammals and their 

 environment." Id. 



In the reauthorization, Congress also added enhancement 

 of survival or recovery of a species or stock to the 

 activities covered under Section 1371(a)(1), thus reaffirming 

 that the items in this section are categories considered by 

 Congress to be beneficial to marine mammals. Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act Amendments of 1988, § 5(c), Pub. L. No. 100- 

 711, 102 Stat. 4765 (1988). 



7 Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1988, § 2, 

 P.L. 100-711, 102 Stat. 4755 (1988). 



8 No mention is made in Section 2 of the 1988 

 Amendments to taking for public display and scientific 

 research. Section 2 is entitled "Interim Exemption for 

 Commercial Fisheries." Public display and scientific 

 research are covered separately — in Section 5 of the 1988 

 Amendments, which is entitled "Scientific Research and Public 

 Display Permits." The Committee Reports on the 1998 

 Amendments also make a clear separation of the provisions 

 relating to commercial fishing operations and those relating 

 to public display and scientific research. See H. Rep. No. 

 100-970, 100th Cong. 2d Sess. 13, 14, 27, 33-34 (1988); S. 

 Rep. No. 100-592, 100th Cong. 2d Sess. 22, 28-30 (1988). The 

 Reports also stress the importance of public display. See 

 note 6, supra . 



