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II. BACKGROUND ON THE ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND 

 STABILITY GOAL OF THE MMPA 



REFERENCES TO ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION IN THE TEXT OF 

 THE MMPA 



In 1972, landmark legislation — the MMPA — was enacted 

 to protect marine mammals from the direct and indirect effects 

 of human activities. The MMPA seeks to accomplish this result 

 through its moratorium on all forms of "taking" ( i.e. . 

 harassing, hunting, capturing, or killing) marine mammals, 

 subject to limited exceptions. 8 The goal of the moratorium, 

 and the research and management programs authorized by the 

 MMPA, is to ensure that marine mammal species and population 

 stocks are not permitted to: 1) "diminish beyond the point at 

 which they cease to be a significant functioning element in 

 the ecosystem of which they are a part," and 2) "consistent 

 with this major objective, [that] they should not be permitted 

 to diminish below their optimum sustainable population." 9 



Although these goals serve as the basis for 

 administration of marine mammal programs under the Secretaries 

 of Commerce and the Interior, they are actually the MMPA's 

 secondary objectives. When it passed the MMPA, Congress 

 recognized the pre-eminent need to ensure the long-term health 

 of the marine environment as a whole. Throughout the 



8 16 O.S.C $ 1371. 

 ' 9 Id. S 1361(2). 



[19653-0001/DA940590.060) -11- 



