197 



Five years after the Act was passed NMFS has finally gotten serious about 

 preventing this carnage. We are willing to curb our impatience with what we 

 see as a continual 1977 go-slow government policy on enforcing the zero kill 

 goal of the Act because we feel solutions, at least partial ones, are now at 

 hand, and we do not wish either to hazard loss of progress to date or to cause 

 the industry true economic hardship. We do not understand why the industry 

 cannot meet us halfway, rather than renewing its bellicose demands for legis- 

 lative relief based upon exaggerated claims of economic ruination and prac- 

 tical infeasibility of implementation of the proposed regulations. 



We would remind this committee of our testimony two weeks ago to which 

 we adhere today — the Act is finally working. To weaken or destroy by amend- 

 ment a decision-making structure painfully worked out by trial and error over 

 the last five years would be a tragic mistake, particularly since the elements 

 in the 1977 regulations most complained of now by the industry are of concern 

 at best for only a few more weeks, and need never recur. 



STATEMENT OF WILLIAM A. BUTLER, GENERAL COUNSEL, ENVI- 

 RONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND, ON BEHALF OF THE ENVIRON- 

 MENTAL DEFENSE FUND, THE SIERRA CLUB, DEFENDERS OF 

 WILDLIFE, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, AMERICAN LITTORAL 

 SOCIETY, CHESAPEAKE CHAPTER, AMERICAN LITTORAL 

 SOCIETY, CONNECTICUT CETACEAN SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENTAL 

 POLICY CENTER, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, INTERNATIONAL 

 FUND FOR WILDLIFE PROTECTION— U.S.A., AND THE NATIONAL 

 PARKS AND CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION; AND STATEMENT OF 

 COL. MILTON M. KAUFMANN, PRESIDENT, MONITOR, INC. 



Mr. BtJTiiER. I would like to say before I begin with my statement, 

 in addition to the groups mentioned on the printed statement— any 

 of those groups that want to attend at the table and volunteer in- 

 formation, please feel free to do so— that this statement is made on 

 behalf of the following groups also: American Littoral Society, 

 Connecticut Chapter of the American Littoral Society 



Colonel Kaufmann. Chesapeake chapter. 



Mr. Butler. Chesapeake chapter of the American Littoral Society, 

 the Connecticut Cetacean Society except as to the acceptability of the 

 53,000 annual quota, the Environmental Policy Center. Friends of 

 the Earth, International Fund for the Advancement of Wildlife, and 

 the National Parks and Conservation Association. 



Colonel Kaufman, International Fund for Animal Welfare, 

 U.S.A. 



Mr. Butler. You can see why I wanted the colonel to come up here. 



Mr. Leggett. Thank you. You are doing very well so far. 



Mr. Butler. National Marine Fisheries Service Director Schon- 

 ing's February 24 final determination on 1977 regulations to govern 

 incidental take of porpoise by tuna fishermen was a split decision. 

 It was not a victory for environmentalists, although we will try to 

 live with it. Neither was it a defeat for the industry, which none- 

 theless claims it cannot live with it, a contention patently false. The 

 decision certainly should not occasion amendment of the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act. 



As we expressed in our February 17 testimony before this com- 

 mittee, we believe that NMFS misjudgments and lassitude in 1D7G 

 have been the major cause of current perturbations adversely affect- 



