456 



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emphasizes the sheer quantity of Georges Bank science studies, 

 without ever attempting to synthesize their results. A thoughtless 

 catalogue of disparate scientific results is nearly useless in 

 this OCS field. 



Suitable monitoring programs, and the BTF generally, should 

 be extended to any area proposed for leasing on or near Georges 

 Bank. This includes deep water tracts well off the Bank proper. 

 Finally, CLF notes that expansion of post-sale monitoring should 

 not be done at the expense of important pre-sale studies. 



These measures are necessary as the monitoring program expands 

 into the larger, deeper areas off the continental shelf. Our 

 scientific knowledge of these greater depths is rudimentary; yet 

 deep water studies are inherently more expensive and the areas 

 themselves more diverse geologically. 



Innovative monitoring options must be explored to compensate 

 for these complicating factors. Tracts should be sold only after 

 scientific information is available ( i.e . canyon tracts should 

 not be sold before canyon sediment transport is better understood) . 

 Areas of special biological significance should be designated in 

 order that studies may be initiated as soon as drilling is 

 proposed. General reconnaissance studies will simply not be 

 as successful in the deeper water areas. (In the Mid-Atlantic 

 region, areas of special biological significance have been 

 proposed and accepted. When one such area, Tom's Canyon, was 

 proposed for drilling, the Mid-Atlantic Task Force set oug 

 special parameters for canyon studies.) Operators should help 

 defray the expensive costs of scientific study in these deeper 

 frontier areas. 



BTF assumption of its expanded responsibilities and more 



