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funds that had been committed by the industry for purposes of 

 1976. 



Then during 1976, the bulk of the porpoise rescue money was put 

 toward a program of testing the — you heard a number of vessels 

 that have gone out to test the Bold Contender system and the modi- 

 fied Bold Contender system. 



The funds from the porpoise rescue system were devoted toward 

 that particular project. There have been a number of other projects 

 that the Porpoise Rescue Foundation has been involved with, and 

 Mr. Alverson can explain. It is an ambitious program, and we think 

 it has been a very promising one. 



In addition, I might add that the 1977 program, which includes 

 the $1.7 million to be devoted for this broad-scale experimentation, 

 was brought about after a meeting last — early last summer, of the 

 ad hoc advisory committee to the Porpoise Rescue Foundation, which 

 is a very broad-based group that includes industry, environmen- 

 talists, observers, from the environmental community, the govern- 

 ment, and many others. 



I think there are about 30 to 35 people involved in that particular 

 meeting. 



Mr. Bonior. Thank you. 



Mr. Leggett. Thank you, Mr. Bonior. 



Mr. Mannina? 



Mr. Mannina. No. 



Mr. Leggett. Mr. Spensley? 



Mr. Spensley. No questions. 



Mr. Leggett. Very good. 



Let me ask you this. Now, Mr. Alverson, of the items that affect 

 porpoise mortality, gear would be No. 1, that would alleviate mor- 

 tality. I guess the expertise of the captain and the expertise of the 

 crew would be major factors, including the traffic, weather would 

 be a very adverse factor in survival of porpoises. How about the 

 area where they are fished from? 



Do you find that the mortality is associated with the area, whether 

 they are inside or outside CYRA? 



Mr. Alverson. The area may be associated with the weather, and 

 I think that there may be a difference between "naive" porpoises — 

 in other words, porpoises which have not been set on as much as in 

 older ones of the fisheries. That is an area in which our porpoise peo- 

 ple hope to explore this coming year. 



Mr. Leggett. That goes back to the learned behavior that the two 

 witnesses talked about? 



Mr. Alverson. Right; Karen. 



Mr. Leggett. How about the size of the boat? 



Mr. Alverson. I am not sure that we have run that correlation to 

 the sea. I do not believe that is an important item, as much as the 

 gear and the skills of the captain and the crew. 



It is a possibility, but I think you might not detect it amongst all 

 of the other variables. 



Mr. Leggett. How about day or night? 



Mr. Alverson. People do not set at night. There are and have 

 been sets in which people constantly refer to as sundown sets. I be- 



