216 



A«rain, we have a combination of a number of things; the backing 

 down, the process of the killer whale sound, the Medina net, and other 

 experiments going on. 



1 thought these would be of particular interest to the committee to 

 get a picture of it. 



Mr, Pelly. Does the killer whale frighten the tuna also ? 



Mr. Pollock. I presume it would, Mr. Pelly. I am not sure. They are 

 down lower in the net. 



The yellowtin tuna have a peculiar relationship with the porpoises. 

 They circulate under the porpoises. This is how they identify them, 

 that' is, the fishermen identify the tuna by the location of the porpoises. 



The tuna are down below the porpoises and if they were scared, 

 they would simply stay in the net. 



Well, as I indicated, and I am going back to my j^repared statement 

 in the middle part of page 5, unfortunately, in the initial tests of this 

 device — the pneumatic gate — mechanical failures have occurred and 

 the tests have not been entirely successful. Concurrently, industry has 

 developed on its own initiative another type of net modification seeking 

 to eliminate the inadvertent taking of porpoises. This modification 

 appears to offer considerable promise, and both NOAA and the in- 

 dustry intend to pursue its development. 



In addition, the industry has recently agreed with the National Ma- 

 rine Fisheries Service to engage in a cooperative research program. 

 Among other things, this program will include the use by the Service 

 of tuna purse seining vessels for a total of 60 ship days, and will 

 ]:)ermit the Service observers to accompany commercial tuna opera- 

 tions on 20 fishing trips. "We are delighted with this cooperation and 

 believe it will significantly advance our knowledge of porpoises and 

 lead to means to avoid their incidental taking. Mr. Chairman, I want 

 to emphasize that the yellowfin tuna fishermen love and protect the 

 porpoise, and have more reason than anyone to insure the survi\'al of 

 the porpoises. Their very livelihood depends upon it. There are many 

 docmnented stories of intrepid tuna fishermen who have thrown 

 themselves into the sea within the purse seine to save the porpoises 

 from downing, to help lift them over the nets, at considerable per- 

 sonal risk from sharks. Incidentally the industry has movies available 

 of such situations should the committee wish to see tliem. 



Mr. Chairman, I would now like to turn our attention to a discus- 

 sion of the various bills which are under consideration by the com- 

 mittee. These bills may be categorized under four general headings. 



The first group, exemplified by H.R. 6554, H.R. 6558, and other iden- 

 tical and similar measures, would simply prohibit the taking of any 

 marine mammal for any purpose. This approach presents a number 

 of difficulties: 



1. An immediate total ban on the taking of all marine mairmials 

 without prior study or research of any kind is not a sound conservation 

 measure. Such a ban, for example, would end the Alaska harvest of sea 

 otters in areas where research has shown serious overpopulation prob- 

 lems and resultant die-off'sof these animals. 



2. It would probably constitute a breach of the Interim Convention 

 on tlie Conservation of Xorth Pacific Fur Seals, and could, therefore, 

 lead to the resumption of indiscriminate high seas pelagic sealing by 

 other countries. This is the very practice which nearly caused the 

 extinction of these animals prior to 1911 and brought about the need 

 for the international treaty. 



