187 



statements reveal a much broader concern with marine ecosystem 

 issues than is reflected in the current statutory text. 



General references to the need for ecosystem protection 



are found throughout the MMPA legislative history. In 1972, 



the Senate Commerce Committee considering the MMPA wrote, 



" [b]asic life history and population information ought to be 



obtained for each marine mammal of concern to the United 



States. . . . All of these animals are a part of the ocean 



biomass and are important in maintaining an ecological 



balance." 19 Six years later, the House Report accompanying 



reauthorization legislation stressed the importance of the 



research that had been carried out to that point: 



This expanded knowledge has enabled us to 

 better assess the impact of various ocean- 

 related development activities on marine 

 mammals. An understanding of these impacts and 

 of the relationship of marine mammals to their 

 ecosystem permits the development of programs 

 to ensure that these species remain a 

 functioning part of their ecosystem. 20 



In the section-by-section analysis of the original Senate 

 bill in 1971, the report authors noted that the finding 

 regarding the importance of marine mammals as functioning 

 parts of their ecosystems included in the Act was meant to 

 emphasize "the need to protect those geographic areas of 



19 S. Rep. No. 863, 92d Cong., 2d Sees. 10 (1972). 

 20 H.R. Rep. No. 1028, 95th Cong., 2d Sees. 5 (1978) 



[19653-0001/DA94O590.060) -17- 



