124 



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Negotiated Proposal will not involve public display and 

 scientific research. 12 



If public display and scientific research institutions 

 were subjected to the Proposed Regime, they would — out of 

 necessity — have to become involved in every step, from the 

 proceedings on calculation of the PBR to allocation of the 

 animals. This would embroil them in an onerous, divisive and 

 paralyzing procedure at odds with the simplified regime 

 intended for them under the MMPA. The impact upon the public 

 display and scientific research communities would be enormous 

 — and indeed could be prohibitive — despite the fact that 

 reduction or elimination of the live takes for purposes of 

 public display and scientific research would have no 

 significant positive impact on the stock(s) in question. 13 

 Indeed, reduction or elimination of th« take for these 

 beneficial purposes would work against the interests of 

 marine mammals. That public display and scientific research 

 should not be subjected to the PBR regime has already been 

 acknowledged by a variety of commenters . 14 



12 "Although there are instances where mortality from 

 other sources is considered or account for , the 

 negotiators did not intend with the proposal, to replace 

 existing MMPA (or other statutory) regimes for 

 regulating, prohibiting or permitting non-fishing takes 

 of marine mammals. The process is aimed at reducing 

 incidental lethal take rates of marine mammals in 

 commercial fishing operations." 



13 The federal quotas have been extraordinarily 

 conservative. For example, NMFS population studies show a 

 healthy population of 35,000 to 45,000 bottlenose dolphins in 

 the Gulf of Mexico. See Scott, G.P., D.M. Burn, L.J. Hansen, 

 R.E. Owen, Estimates of Bottlenose Dolphin Abund ance in the 

 Gulf of Mexico from Regional Aerial Surveys . CRD-88/89-07, 

 NMFS, Southeast Region. In contrast, there have been only 

 438 bottlenose dolphins taken for public display since the 

 MMPA was enacted in 1972. 



14 The Marine Mammal Commission, for example, in its 

 comments to NMFS has acknowledged the inappropriateness of 

 using ABR (now termed PBR) as the basis for making 

 allocations among various user groups and has acknowledged 

 the need for special criteria for takes by the special user 

 groups covered by 16 U.S.C. § 1371(a)(1). The Commission 

 stated that it 



"believes that it is ill-advised to try to use ABR 

 determinations as the basis for allocating 'takes' among 



