126 



along with the tuna, especially the female and baby porpoises, the 

 babies cannot make it over the net to escape and their mothers will 

 not leave their babies. With a high rate of porpoise deaths, we are in 

 danger of losing this resource and our fishermen are in danger of 

 losing their one good method of finding the tuna. 



Wildlife managers are employed by our Fish and Wildlife Service 

 and by State departments of game and fish. These men are influenced 

 or their superiors are influenced by the commercial and sports inter- 

 ests and often their research is skewed. Our California Department of 

 Fish and Game is supported entirely by sport and commercial license 

 revenues. 



No conservation money, no general funds are given to them at all, 

 so the wildlife managers are unfortunately politically motivated or 

 influenced because of the nature of their support. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Mr. Vandevere, the committee is very grateful to you 

 for your very helpful statement. 



The gentleman from California, Mr, Anderson. 



Mr. Anderson. Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend Mr. Vande- 

 vere for his remarks and particularly in reminding me that I did sign 

 the sea otter bill into law. Thanks again for reminding me. 



Although it is now ancient history, it was a needed law. 



(A letter was received by the committee from Mr. Vandevere, fol- 

 lowing his appearance. The text of his letter follows:) 



Hopkins Marine Station, 

 Pacific Orove, Calif., September 24, 1971. 

 Hon. John D. Dingell, 

 House Office Building, 

 Washington, D.G. 



My Dear Mr. Dingell : Chief Clerk, Robert J. McElroy has been sent the cor- 

 rected copy of my testimony before your Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wild- 

 life Conservation on September 9, 1971. To prevent repetition, I have recom- 

 mended that he delete more than 130 lines of my additional comments for this 

 information appears in my prepared testimony. 



I would like to apply for insertion of the following approximately 14 supple- 

 mental lines, on page 122, after line 18 : 



"H.R. 10420 vphich provides that the fate of all marine mammals shall be 

 decided by three commissioners 'Knowledgeable in . . . resource management' is 

 therefore disturbing as is the fact that they are charged with managing all marine 

 mammals. '. . . on an optimum sustained yield basis.' The commissioners should 

 be knowledgeable in marine ecology and marine mammalogy, not resource 

 exploitation. 



"Also, the provision in H.R. 10420 which permits *. . . any marine mammal (to 

 be captured) for public display or educational purposes . . .' should be qualified 

 to prohibit their display in all zoos and shows other than the major facilities of 

 the world which employ marine mammal veterinarians and have proper accom- 

 modations for these unfortunate marine mammals." 



I was impressed by your opening statement and by your interest in the testi- 

 mony of the scientists whom you had the wisdom to invite before your subcom- 

 mittee. I understand that you have requested information on the status of the 

 sea otter. I have forwarded such data to you through the Humane Society. 



I enclose a copy of a letter I have addressed to the Hon. Glenn Anderson in 

 which I recommend complete protection for all marine mammals until the bio- 

 logical effects of increasing levels of cumulative poisons can be determined. 

 Yours very truly, 



JuDSON E. Vandevere. 



Enclosure. 



