133 



Mr. Wyatt. Have any other studies been made? 



Dr. Bolton. I do not know if NAS funded other studies in other 

 fisheries areas. They specifically brought out the gulf situation. 



Mr. Studds. The National Marine Fisheries Service has regular 

 annual figures on fisheries production throughout the country. 



Mr. Wyatt. National Marine Fisheries. 



Ms. CoMPTON. National Marine and Fisheries Service. 



Mr. Wyatt. Have they indicated that that is the case? 



Dr. Bolton. Dean Parsons who was at the hearing referenced by 

 Mr. Stills is a representative of that organization and I do not 

 remember him making any addition to that statement. 



Ms. CoMPTON. We would be happy to collect that. 



Mr. Wyatt. I think that would be interesting to know. If we are 

 going to throw out something that may raise a question, I think we 

 ought to compare it with the other fishing areas of the country to 

 make a determination if there is any significance in that fact. 

 There may be absolutely no significance or correlation with tre- 

 mendous amount of drilling taking place in the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Every other fishing area in the country might also have the same 

 catch. 



Ms. CoMPTON. As I commented to Mr. Breaux, I did not indicate 

 whether we knew there was any significance to that data or not. I 

 simply commented in response to the fact that he said there had 

 been no problems in the Gulf of Mexico. It is our understanding 

 that we are not sure whether there have been any problems as a 

 result of the drilling, because there are no baseline studies indicat- 

 ing what the gulf was like prior to drilling ancj/the catch in the 

 Gulf of Mexico has not increased in spite ^ increased use of 

 equipment and personnel. We would be hapjiy to supplement the 

 record with information on other fishing areas. 



Mr. Wyatt. Do you know if you are doing any of those kind of 

 studies? 



Ms. CoMPTON. NOAA is, I am sure. 



Ms. CoMPTON. EPA is not involved in that t5rpe of study. 



Mr. Wyatt. You say on page four of your testimony: 



After review of comments received on the draft permit, the permitting authority 

 may issue or deny a final permit. After the final permit is issued, any interested 

 party may contest its issuance or its terms within 30 days. 



Who would any interested party be? 



Ms. CoMPTON. In the Flower Gardens area, the Natural Re- 

 sources Defense Council, as you know. 



Mr. Wyatt. That is an environmental group? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Yes, it is a national environmental group. 



Mr. Wyatt. How are they funded? 



Ms. Compton. They are funded by over 100 foundations, to my 

 knowledge. 



Mr. Wyatt. Is it a nonprofit corporation? 



Ms. Compton. Yes, it is. 



Mr. Wyatt. OK. They could object and have objected? 



Ms. Compton. Yes. They requested that an evidentiary hearing 

 be held on the terms of the permit. They questioned its terms in 

 the Flower Gardens. 



Mr. Wyatt. This was after you issued the permit? 



Ms. Compton. Yes. 



