1 differences that make generalizations from canyon system to canyon 



2 system difficult. 



3 DR. AURAND: Did we finish the preceding item, which was whether 



4 or not existing data was applicable or are we back to that? 



5 DR. BUTMAN: That's what we were talking about with the 



6 sedimentary environments. 



7 DR. AURAND: The one before that, the one where we had no- -we came 



8 to no conclusion. 



9 DR. BUTMAN: You should lead the discussion on that one. 



10 DR. AURAND: From MMS' point of view, certainly, while the 



11 canyons, because of their structure and all of that, are areas where you 



12 want to make sure you have a good interpretation of what is going on, I 



13 don't think there is anything in what we have heard that would indicate 



14 that the results are not applicable in terms of what kind of sediment 



15 accumulation you would have around rigs or how far out things would go 



16 or what kind of effects they would have. 



17 I think they would be applicable and I would push the fact that 



18 there is a confined area extent to where there are--I almost said 



19 "unique"--special fauna does not indicate to me that you cannot use the 



20 results from other monitoring studies to infer what would occur in a 



21 canyonhead or near a canyonhead environment. 



22 In fact, in the Toms Canyon case, it was near a canyonhead, so 



23 certainly that information should be applicable, so I would say that 



24 there is no evidence that the previous studies are not applicable. I 



25 think we need to come to some kind of conclusion on that. 



26 DR. NEFF: There are some ongoing studies, at least on the west 



27 coast, on hard-bottom communities which are similar. They are not the 



28 same biologically, but they are similar in terms of ecological niches, 



29 to some extent. 



30 DR. HECKER: But do you have as much trapping in those areas? 



31 DR. NEFF: No, it's a different situation. I am just talking 



32 about the interaction between the critters. 



33 DR. AYERS: "Inapplicable" is too strong a word; that's the 



34 problem. You have to think about. There are some uncertainties. 



214 



