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The proposal would authorize inspection of facilities 

 without a warrant, in violation of the MMPA, 16 U.S.C. § 

 1377, and the Constitutional guarantee against unreasonable 

 searches and seizures. NMFS would even have the unfettered 

 discretion to call on private persons to conduct the 

 inspection. 



The proposal would adopt the extraordinary concept of a 

 "captive stock" of marine mammals. The MMPA intends that the 

 concept of stocks relates to marine mammals in the wild, not 

 in captivity. See , e.g. . 16 U.S.C. SS 1361(1), (2). The 

 proposal would thus pave the way for NMFS management of 

 marine mammals in captivity, which violates Congressional 

 intent. 



III. CONGRESSIONAL RELIEF IS WARRANTED 



Despite the Congressionally-mandated simplicity of 

 procedures for obtaining public display and scientific 

 research permits and the small number of animals taken for 

 these purposes, the NMFS proposal would make obtaining such 

 permits a bureaucratic nightmare contrary to Congressional 

 intent, wasteful of federal resources and debilitating to 

 zoological institutions. 



The Marine Mammal Coalition believes that legislative 

 action is necessary to restore common sense to the regulatory 

 scheme. Congress should reinforce Congressional intent to 

 have permits issued for the number of animals necessary for 

 public display and scientific research in an expeditious and 

 simplified manner. Congress should also eliminate intrusion 

 by NMFS into animal husbandry matters, which are properly 

 within the jurisdiction of APHIS. Congress should squarely 

 reject the pending NMFS regulatory proposal. The Marine 

 Mammal Coalition looks forward to working with Congress to 

 accomplish these important goals. 



