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Senator Kempthorne. Both in the private and the public sectors, 

 and in fact, in the public sector it's from Federal agencies, it's been 

 stated, for example, on the Section 7 consultation process, that the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service is extremely behind in meeting 

 deadlines on the consultation process. 



It has been suggested that the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 may not have the resources to carry out all of the duties and re- 

 quirements that have been placed upon it. I look at the track 

 record of documentation or responses we've asked for that have not 

 been forthcoming. Would you comment on your assessment of Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service and the resources that you have 

 and the aspect of deadlines that are missed? 



Mr. Stelle. Senator, I think that is a fair point. I know that the 

 people that I oversee and manage in the Northwest region work in- 

 credibly long hours; they work weekends and they are carrying an 

 extraordinary load. The volume of work is enormous. Have we been 

 able to make all the deadlines? No, Senator, we have not. As the 

 program requirements continue, our resources get cut back. It's a 

 huge problem and I would fully admit that. I think it's frankly a 

 problem for most of the Federal agencies that are struggling to im- 

 plement some of these complicated programs while our resource 

 base is dwindling. 



Senator Kempthorne. Would you comment on this? I had a con- 

 versation with representatives of the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service expressing my concern about the delays, my concern about 

 the fact that consultations do not take place, the fact that in some 

 instances it's caused a Federal court to impose an injunction. When 

 I pressed this point with representatives of the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, they have stated, well, if you would please be pa- 

 tient with us because we are traditionally an oceanographic agency 

 and the inland waterways is a relatively new assignment for us. 

 Taking that into consideration, then when I asked what is happen- 

 ing then to the salmon in the ocean, then I'm told, we don't know 

 because it's a black box, would you comment on that because on the 

 one hand, we look to the National Marine Fisheries Service be- 

 cause of this charge that you're to do it in the inland waterways, 

 but we're reminded that you're an oceanographic agency primarily 

 but you can't tell us what is happening in the ocean? 



Mr. Stelle. The issue of what is happening in the ocean is in- 

 deed, I think, largely not adequately researched and if there is one 

 area of the salmon life cycle that we collectively have not done a 

 good enough job on, it is in researching and developing the infor- 

 mation on what is going on in the ocean habitat and how that may 

 affect the life cycle. 



Has the Service or any other entity developed that kind of body 

 of knowledge and information? No, Senator, we have not as of yet. 

 Most of the focus of the Service from an ocean standpoint has been 

 the more traditional bread and butter management of fisheries in 

 Federal jurisdiction. 



Senator Kempthorne. Would you also give me your insight on 

 why is the National Marine Fisheries Service in the Department of 

 Commerce? 



