Thank you for allowing me to testify, and we will be pleased to 

 answer any questions you might have. I have with me Dr. Thomas 

 Eagle, who is our scientist on staff. 



[The prepared statement of Dr. Foster follows:] 



Prepared Statement of Nancy Foster, Ph.D. 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the committee: I am Nancy Foster, Acting Assist- 

 ant Administrator for Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admimstration 

 (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce. I appreciate the opportunity to testify be- 

 fore this Committee. 



We are here today to discuss the reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protect 

 ion Act (MMPA), which has been an important element in the conservation of our 

 Nation's living marine resources. The MMPA establishes a comprehensive program 

 for marine mammal protection. The MMPA recognizes that marine mammals are 

 important elements of marine ecosystems and resources of great aesthetic, rec- 

 reational, and economic significance. Furthermore, marine mammals contribute to 

 biodiversity. 



The 1988 amendments to the MMPA added section 114, which established an in- 

 terim exemption to the moratorium on the taking of marine mammals incidental to 

 commercial fishing operations through September 30, 1993. The interim exemption 

 resulted from an agreement between some members of the environmental commu- 

 nity and the fishing industry. It allowed commercial fishing to continue while the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) gathered information on the nature and 

 extent of interactions between commercial fishing operations and marine mammals 

 necessary to assess the impact on marine mammal stocks. 



Section 114 directed NMFS to develop a regime to govern interactions between 

 marine mammals and commercial fishing operations after September 30, 1993. To 

 be consistent with the major goals of the MMPA, the regime would need to provide 

 adequate protection for marine mammals. To allow many commercial fishing oper- 

 ations to continue to operate lawfully, the regime also would have to permit a lim- 

 ited number of marine mammals to be removed incidental to fishing activities. 

 These takings would have to be authorized, in many cases, where populations are 

 below their optimum sustainable levels or where inadequate data are available to 

 determine optimum sustainable populations (OSP). The regime would also have to 

 include the ability to collect additional data and incorporate these data into future 

 decisions. 



In December 1992, NMFS submitted its "Proposed Regime to Govern Interact ions 

 Between Marine Mammals and Commercial Fishing Operations" (NMFS proposal) 

 to Congress. Subsequently, a negotiating group, composed of representatives of the 

 fishing industry ana environmental community, submitted its proposal (negotiated 

 proposal) in June 1993. A number of environmental groups that initially were part 

 of the negotiating group were dissatisfied with the negotiated proposal and identi- 

 fied a series of concerns, which were submitted to legislative staff in late June 1993 

 (protection proposal). In this testimony, I will discuss the general provisions of the 

 NMFS proposal; provisions of the other proposals; how each addresses the necessary 

 elements oi a successful management regime; and additional specific details. 



NMFS PROPOSAL 



NOAA provided the specifics of the NMFS proposal in testimony before the House 

 Subcommittee on Environment and Natural Resources on April 20, 1993. I have 

 suppUed that testimony to the Committee, but would like to summarize the pro- 

 posal. 



NMFS has developed a management regime which would focus research and man- 

 agement activities where they are most needed. The immediate goal of the NMFS 

 regime would be to determine how many marine mammals may be removed from 

 a population stock without disadvantaging that stock and to monitor the number 

 of incidental removals from populations. NMFS would rely on a system driven by 

 data obtained throu^ stock assessment research and based on stock status relative 

 to OSP in order to determine the number of authorized removals. 



For each marine mammal stock, NMFS would determine a Potential Biological 

 Removal (PBR). The PBR is the total number of animals that may be removed from 

 a marine mammal population by all forms of taking while allowing the stock to re- 

 main within, or recover to, OSP. Using data collected during the Interim Exemption 

 period, NMFS would prepare Stock Assessment Reports for each stock of marine 

 mammals that interacts with commercial fishing operations in U.S. waters and use 

 these reports to calculate a PBR for each stock. 



