140 



You have also invited comments from the several Federal depart- 

 ments that would be involved in the execution of a marine mammals 

 act. In their statements to you, the representatives of these depart- 

 ments will address specific provisions of H.R. 10420 and suggest amend- 

 ments from the standpoint of their individual responsibilities. I ^hall 

 not cover the same ground, but rather, shall address myself more gen- 

 erally to some of what we consider to be the most important aspects of 

 '.he act. 



Ameiica has led the world in the development of the principles and 

 practice of scientific wildlife management. Depending on the status of 

 the wild species involved, the condition of its habitat, and the objectives 

 of management, a variety of management techniques or methodologies 

 may be used. In addition to habitat protection and manipulation, man- 

 agement techniques required to assure the survival of a species may 

 range from provision of total protection through culling or harvest, 

 and these requirements may change from time to time. 



It is basic to scientific wildlife management that while total protec- 

 tion may be necessary to have a species at one time, it may prove 

 detrimental to the species at a subsequent time. The rigid policy of 

 total protection, as is called for by H.R. 6558, the Ocean Mammal 

 Protection Act of 1971, represents a reversion away from scientific 

 conservation and management which is basic to our national and inter- 

 national endeavors in wildlife conservation. Consequently, we are not 

 in favor of H.R. 6558. However, H.R. 10420 appears to be based on 

 the principles of scientific management. The objective of H.R. 10420 

 is to achieve more effective management of marine mammals, in order 

 to assure that they are not threatened with depletion or extinction, and 

 that their esthetic, recreational, and economic values to human welfare 

 be realized. The provisions of the act recognize the need to base effec- 

 tive management on adequate scientific information, which in some 

 cases does not now exist ; the need, in some cases, to extend our regu- 

 latory authority beyond the present limit of the territorial seas ; and 

 the need to seek more effective international agreements for manage- 

 ment of some of the marine mammals in international waters. We 

 strongly support this objective and endorse these principles. 



Mr. Chairman, you and your committee have a long and distin- 

 guished history of effective environmental concern. It is only relatively 

 recently that this concern has spread to the American public, in general, 

 and indeed, to the peoples of the world. The past several years have 

 witnessed an extraordinary growth of national and international envi- 

 ronmental awareness. With this has come a recognition of the finite — 

 and even fragile — nature of many of our living resources, and of the 

 urgent need to manage them in a responsible manner on the basis of 

 scientific knowledge and scientific management principles. 



There is also a growing recognition that many of our past ap- 

 proaches to management of these living resources were based upon a 

 relatively narrow concern with their immediate value to man as prod- 

 ucts. We are now coming to recognize that they play a much broader 

 and more vital role in human welfare. These living resources are 

 integral parts of the ecosystems in which they are found. As such, 

 they contribute to the stability and health of our environment — ^the 

 life support system on which our survival and welfare depend. In the 

 case of wildlife, we are also coming to recognize that in addition to 



