I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2760

To authorize the Marine Mammal Protection Act for a period of 6 years,

to establish a new regime to govern the incidental taking of marine

mammals in the course of commercial fishing operations, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 1993

Mr. STUDDS (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. FIELDS of Texas, Mr.

MANTON, and Mr. SAXTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To authorize the Marine Mammal Protection Act for a period

of 6 years, to establish a new regime to govern the

incidental taking of marine mammals in the course of

commercial fishing operations, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Mammal Pro5 tection Act Amendments of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION

2 ACT OF 1972.

3 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

4 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

5 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi6 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

7 section or other provision of the Marine Mammal Protec8 tion Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.).

9 SEC. 3. SMALL TAKE PROVISIONS.

10 (a) Section 101(a)(4) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(4)) is

11 amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall allow the inciden13 tal, but not the intentional, lethal taking by citizens

14 of the United States while engaging in commercial

15 fishing operations of small numbers of marine mam16 mals listed as endangered species under the Endan17 gered Species Act of 1973 if the Secretary deter18 mines, after notice and opportunity for public com19 ment, that the total of such taking will not exceed

20 the potential biological removal level established for

21 that marine mammal stock or species under section

22 118(c).

23 ‘‘(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, a re24 quest for an authorization to incidentally lethally

25 take marine mammals that have been listed as en26 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act
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1 of 1973 shall be considered to be sufficient to initi2 ate a consultation under section 7 of that Act.’’.

3 SEC. 4. PERMITS.

4 Section 104 (16 U.S.C. 1374) is amended by striking

5 the period at the end of subsection (a) and inserting ‘‘ex6 cept for the incidental taking of marine mammals during

7 the course of commercial fishing operations.’’.

8 SEC. 5. CONSERVATION PLANS.

9 Section 115(b) is amended—

10 (1) by striking the word ‘‘and’’ after the semi11 colon at the end of subparagraph (B);

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub13 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘(D) within 6 months after determination of

17 critical status, for any species or stock determined to

18 be a critical stock under section 118.’’.

19 SEC. 6. TAKING OF MARINE MAMMALS INCIDENTAL TO

20 COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS.

21 Title I (16 U.S.C. 1371 et seq.) is amended by adding

22 at the end the following new section:

23 ‘‘SEC. 118. (a) TAKING OF MARINE MAMMALS INCI24 DENTAL TO COMMERCIAL FISHING OPERATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) Effective on the date of the enactment of

2 the Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of

3 1993 and subject to subsection (d)(4), the provisions

4 of this section shall govern the incidental taking of

5 marine mammals in the course of commercial fishing

6 operations by persons using vessels of the United

7 States and vessels which have valid fishing permits

8 issued by the Secretary in accordance with section

9 204(b) of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

10 Management Act. In any event, it shall be the imme11 diate goal that the incidental kill or serious injury

12 of marine mammals permitted in the course of com13 mercial fishing operations be reduced to insignificant

14 levels approaching zero.

15 ‘‘(2) The provisions of the Endangered Species

16 Act of of 1973 and section 101 of this title and not

17 this section shall govern the incidental lethal taking

18 of marine mammals listed as endangered under the

19 Endangered Species Act of 1973.

20 ‘‘(3) The provisions of title III of this Act and

21 not this section shall govern the taking of marine

22 mammals in the course of commercial purse seine

23 fishing for yellowfin tuna.

24 ‘‘(4) The provisions of the Endangered Species

25 Act of 1973 and Public Law 99–625 and not this
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1 section shall govern the incidental taking of Califor2 nia sea otters during the course of commercial fish3 ing operations.

4 ‘‘(b) SCIENTIFIC WORKING GROUP.—(1) Not later

5 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Ma6 rine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1993, the

7 Secretary, in consultation with the Marine Mammal Com8 mission and the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish

9 a Scientific Working Group consisting of individuals with

10 expertise in marine mammal biology and ecology, popu11 lation dynamics and modeling, and commercial fishing

12 technology and practices, to advise the Secretary regard13 ing—

14 ‘‘(A) population estimates for those marine

15 mammal stocks taken incidental to commercial fish16 ing operations;

17 ‘‘(B) the population status and trend of such

18 marine mammal stocks;

19 ‘‘(C) studies needed to resolve uncertainties re20 garding stock separation, abundance, or trends and

21 factors affecting the distribution, size, or productiv22 ity of the stock;

23 ‘‘(D) studies needed to resolve uncertainties re24 garding the species, numbers, ages, gender, and re25 productive status of marine mammals being inciden-
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1 tally lethally taken in the course of commercial fish2 ing operations; and

3 ‘‘(E) research to identify modifications in fish4 ing gear and fishing practices likely to reduce the

5 mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in6 cidental to commercial fishing operations.

7 ‘‘(2) The Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not

8 apply to the Scientific Working Group.

9 ‘‘(c) STOCK ASSESSMENTS.—(1) Not later than 120

10 days after the date of the enactment of the Marine Mam11 mal Protection Act Amendments of 1993, the Secretary

12 shall provide to the Scientific Working Group established

13 under subsection (b) a preliminary stock assessment of all

14 marine mammal populations which occur in waters under

15 the jurisdiction of the United States. The preliminary

16 stock assessment shall include—

17 ‘‘(A) the area in which each stock or population

18 is located;

19 ‘‘(B) the best available estimates of minimum

20 population abundance, distribution, stock separation,

21 and current trend;

22 ‘‘(C) estimates of total lethal take by source for

23 each stock and other factors that may impede recov24 ery of that stock, including impacts on marine mam25 mal habitat and prey;
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1 ‘‘(D) a list of commercial fisheries interacting

2 with each marine mammal stock, which includes—

3 ‘‘(i) the approximate number of vessels

4 participating in the fishery;

5 ‘‘(ii) the level of interaction, specifying fre6 quent, occasional, or rare incidental takes;

7 ‘‘(iii) seasonal or area changes in level of

8 take; and

9 ‘‘(iv) the rate at which takes occur, speci10 fying on a per day or per fishing operation

11 basis;

12 ‘‘(E) the stock’s status, specifying whether a

13 species, stock, or population has been identified as

14 having reached its optimum sustainable population,

15 is depleted, threatened, endangered, or critical; and

16 ‘‘(F) a potential biological removal level for

17 each stock and the factors used to calculate it.

18 ‘‘(2) The Scientific Working Group shall review the

19 preliminary stock assessment and provide comments and

20 recommendations to the Secretary not later than 60 days

21 from receipt.

22 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall take the recommendations

23 of the Scientific Working Group into account and, not

24 later than 45 days after the receipt of such comments and
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1 recommendations, shall make the revised stock assessment

2 available for public review and comment.

3 ‘‘(4) Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact4 ment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments

5 of 1993, the Secretary shall publish a final stock assess6 ment of all marine mammal stocks which occur in United

7 States waters. The assessment shall include all informa8 tion required under paragraph (1) and any other informa9 tion which the Secretary deems appropriate.

10 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall review and publish, in con11 sultation with the Marine Mammal Commission, the Sec12 retary of the Interior, and the Scientific Working Group,

13 updated stock assessments—

14 ‘‘(A) on an annual basis for those stocks con15 sidered to be critical; and

16 ‘‘(B) at least once every 3 years for all other

17 marine mammal stocks.

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION TO TAKE MARINE MAM19 MALS.—(1) Not later than 30 days after the date of the

20 publication of the final stock assessment as required under

21 subsection (c), the Secretary shall issue a general author22 ization for the incidental taking of marine mammals in

23 the course of commercial fishing operations. Such author24 ization shall be accompanied by regulations issued by the

25 Secretary requiring—
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1 ‘‘(A) each vessel owner operating in a fishery

2 identified in the final stock assessment as interact3 ing with a marine mammal stock which has been—

4 ‘‘(i) listed as an endangered species or

5 threatened species under the Endangered Spe6 cies Act of 1973;

7 ‘‘(ii) designated as depleted under this Act;

8 or

9 ‘‘(iii) identified as critical under this sec10 tion,

11 to register with the Secretary by biennially complet12 ing a registration form providing the name of the

13 vessel owner, the name and description of the vessel,

14 the fisheries in which it will be engaged, and such

15 other information as the Secretary deems necessary;

16 ‘‘(B) each vessel required to register under sub17 paragraph (A) to display a decal or other physical

18 evidence issued by the Secretary indicating that the

19 registration is current;

20 ‘‘(C) all lethal takes of marine mammals to be

21 reported to the Secretary at the end of each fishing

22 trip;

23 ‘‘(D) each vessel to comply with all monitoring

24 requirements established by the Secretary as pro25 vided in subsection (f); and
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1 ‘‘(E) any other terms and conditions which the

2 Secretary deems appropriate.

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary is authorized to charge a fee for

4 the granting of an authorization under this section. The

5 level of fees charged under this paragraph shall not exceed

6 the administrative costs incurred in granting an authoriza7 tion. Fees collected under this paragraph shall be available

8 to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and At9 mosphere for expenses incurred in the granting and ad10 ministration of authorizations under this section.

11 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall review information regard12 ing the incidental taking of marine mammals under the

13 general authorization and evaluate the effects of such inci14 dental taking on the affected marine mammal stocks. Inci15 dental lethal takes for each marine mammal stock shall

16 not exceed the potential biological removal level estab17 lished in the final stock assessment required under sub18 section (c). If the Secretary finds that the incidental tak19 ing of marine mammals in a fishery is likely to exceed

20 the potential biological removal level, the Secretary shall

21 immediately consult with the appropriate conservation

22 team established under subsection (e), Regional Councils,

23 and States, and prescribe emergency regulations to pre24 vent to the maximum extent practicable any further tak-
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1 ing. Any emergency regulations prescribed under this

2 paragraph shall—

3 ‘‘(A) to the maximum extent practicable, avoid

4 interfering with existing State, interstate, or regional

5 management plans;

6 ‘‘(B) be published in the Federal Register; and

7 ‘‘(C) remain in effect until the Secretary deter8 mines that the reasons for the emergency regula9 tions no longer exist, or the end of the year for

10 which the annual potential biological removal was

11 calculated, whichever is earlier.

12 ‘‘(4) Until such time as the Secretary issues a general

13 authorization under this section for the incidental taking

14 of marine mammals during the course of commercial fish15 ing operations, the provisions of section 114 shall apply.

16 ‘‘(e) CONSERVATION TEAMS.—(1) The Secretary

17 shall establish a conservation team for each of the follow18 ing regions and the adjacent economic zone in which inci19 dental lethal takes of marine mammals occur:

20 ‘‘(A) NEW ENGLAND.—The New England re21 gion, consisting of the States of Maine, New Hamp22 shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecti23 cut.
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1 ‘‘(B) MID-ATLANTIC.—The Mid-Atlantic region,

2 consisting of the States of New York, New Jersey,

3 Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

4 ‘‘(C) SOUTH ATLANTIC.—The South Atlantic

5 region, consisting of the States of North Carolina,

6 South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

7 ‘‘(D) GULF AND CARIBBEAN.—The Gulf of

8 Mexico and Caribbean region, consisting of the

9 States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,

10 Florida; the Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth

11 of Puerto Rico.

12 ‘‘(E) PACIFIC.—The Pacific region, consisting

13 of the States of California, Washington, and Oregon.

14 ‘‘(F) WESTERN PACIFIC.—The Western Pacific

15 region, consisting of the State of Hawaii; Guam,

16 American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Is17 lands.

18 ‘‘(G) NORTH PACIFIC.—The North Pacific re19 gion, consisting of the State of Alaska.

20 ‘‘(2) For those regions in which a marine mammal

21 stock has been identified as a critical stock, conservation

22 teams shall be established not later than 30 days after

23 the publication of the final stock assessment required

24 under subsection (c). For those regions in which no stock

25 has been identified as critical, conservation teams shall be
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1 established not later than 60 days after the publication

2 of the final stock assessment.

3 ‘‘(3) Conservation team members may be drawn from

4 the National Marine Fisheries Service, the United States

5 Fish and Wildlife Service, the Marine Mammal Commis6 sion, States, Regional Councils, environmental organiza7 tions, the fishing industry, universities and scientific orga8 nizations, Alaska Native corporations, treaty tribes, and

9 others as the Secretary deems appropriate. Each conserva10 tion team shall have at least one member of the coinciding

11 Regional Council as a member. Conservation teams shall

12 consist of an equitable distribution of industry and

13 nonindustry representatives as practicable. Conservation

14 teams shall not be subject to the Federal Advisory Com15 mittee Act; however, meetings of the conservation teams

16 shall be open to the public.

17 ‘‘(4) It shall be the immediate goal of each conserva18 tion team to advise the Secretary, through the develop19 ment of a conservation plan, on methods of reducing lethal

20 incidental takes of marine mammals below the potential

21 biological removal levels established under subsection (c)

22 as quickly as possible, and on methods of reducing inciden23 tal lethal takes to insignificant levels approaching zero

24 within 10 years. In developing a conservation plan, con-
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1 servation teams shall consult with the States and Regional

2 Councils.

3 ‘‘(5) In the case of those regions in which a marine

4 mammal stock has been identified as critical, and for

5 which total lethal takes are estimated to be greater than

6 the potential biological removal level established in the

7 stock assessment, the following provisions shall apply:

8 ‘‘(A) Not later than 6 months after the date of

9 the establishment of a conservation team, the team

10 shall submit a draft conservation plan for the critical

11 stock to the Secretary.

12 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall take the draft con13 servation plan into consideration and, not later than

14 60 days after the submission of the draft conserva15 tion plan by the conservation team, the Secretary

16 shall publish a draft conservation plan and imple17 menting regulations for public review and comment.

18 ‘‘(C) In the event that the conservation team is

19 unable to submit a draft plan to the Secretary with20 in 6 months, the Secretary shall publish a proposed

21 plan and implementing regulations for public review

22 and comment:

23 ‘‘(D) Not later than 60 days after the close of

24 the comment period required under subparagraph
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1 (B), the Secretary shall publish a final conservation

2 plan and implementing regulations.

3 ‘‘(E) The Secretary and the conservation team

4 shall continue to meet every six months to monitor

5 the progress of the conservation plan.

6 ‘‘(F) The Secretary may make adjustments to

7 the conservation plan and implementing regulations

8 as necessary, which shall be published for public re9 view and comment.

10 ‘‘(6) In the case of those regions in which a marine

11 mammal stock has been identified as critical, and for

12 which the total lethal takes are estimated to be less than

13 the potential biological removal level established in the

14 stock assessment, the following provisions shall apply:

15 ‘‘(A) No later than 11 months after the estab16 lishment of a conservation team, the team shall sub17 mit a draft conservation plan for the critical stock

18 to the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary shall take the draft con20 servation plan into consideration and, not later than

21 60 days following the submission of the draft con22 servation plan by the conservation team, the Sec23 retary shall publish a draft conservation plan and

24 implementing regulations for public review and com25 ment.
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1 ‘‘(C) in the event that the conservation team is

2 unable to submit a draft plan to the Secretary with3 in 11 months, the Secretary shall publish a proposed

4 plan and implementing regulations for public review

5 and comment.

6 ‘‘(D) Not later than 60 days after the close of

7 the comment period required under subparagraph

8 (B), the Secretary shall publish a final conservation

9 plan and implementing regulations.

10 ‘‘(E) The Secretary and the conservation team

11 shall continue to meet on an annual basis to monitor

12 the progress of the conservation plan.

13 ‘‘(F) The Secretary may make adjustments to

14 the conservation plan and implementing regulations

15 as necessary, which shall be published for public re16 view and comment.

17 ‘‘(f) MONITORING INCIDENTAL LETHAL TAKES.—(1)

18 The Secretary shall establish a program to monitor inci19 dental lethal takes of marine mammals during the course

20 of commercial fishing operations. The purposes of the

21 monitoring program shall be to—

22 ‘‘(A) determine potential changes in stock sta23 tus;

24 ‘‘(B) identify unusual changes in fishing meth25 ods, including the introduction of new or alternative
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1 fishing gear or practices, and the initiation of experi2 mental fisheries;

3 ‘‘(C) determine methods of reducing incidental

4 lethal take levels; and

5 ‘‘(D) verify reporting of incidental lethal takes.

6 ‘‘(2) For each fishery operating under the general au7 thorization to incidentally lethally take marine mammals

8 as provided under subsection (d), and consistent with the

9 provisions of sections 114(e)(6) and 114(e)(7), the Sec10 retary shall require that vessels operating in that fishery

11 carry observers in order to obtain statistically reliable in12 formation required under this section. When determining

13 the distribution of observers among fisheries and vessels

14 within a fishery, the Secretary shall be guided by the fol15 lowing standards:

16 ‘‘(A) The requirement to obtain the best sci17 entific information available.

18 ‘‘(B) The requirement that assignment of ob19 servers is fair and equitable among fisheries and

20 among vessels in a fishery.

21 ‘‘(C) The requirement that no individual person

22 or vessel, or group of persons or vessels, be subject

23 to excessive or overly burdensome observer coverage.

24 ‘‘(D) Where practicable, the need to minimize

25 costs and avoid duplication.
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1 ‘‘(3) To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall re2 quire that vessels carry observers consistent with the fol3 lowing priorities:

4 ‘‘(A) 20 percent of the vessels in those fisheries

5 with incidental lethal takes from marine mammal

6 stocks identified as endangered species or threatened

7 species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973

8 shall carry observers.

9 ‘‘(B) 20 percent of the vessels in those fisheries

10 with incidental lethal takes from marine mammal

11 stocks identified as critical shall carry observers.

12 ‘‘(C) 10 percent of those fisheries with high lev13 els of incidental lethal takes from any marine mam14 mal stock designated as depleted shall carry observ15 ers.

16 ‘‘(D) Observers may be required on vessels in

17 any other fishery in which incidental lethal takes are

18 likely to occur or in which the Secretary believes in19 cidental takes may be occurring.

20 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall establish a list of supple21 mentary observer providers which shall consist of private

22 companies, academic institutions, State agencies, and

23 other appropriate entities which can provide qualified ob24 servers to a vessel required to carry an observer under

25 this subsection. A vessel owner may choose to employ a
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1 supplementary observer provider to meet the requirements

2 of this subsection.

3 ‘‘(5) In order to be included in the list established

4 under paragraph (4), a supplementary observer provider

5 must demonstrate that—

6 ‘‘(A) individuals employed by the provider are

7 citizens or nationals of the United States and have

8 the requisite education or experience to carry out the

9 functions required under this subsection;

10 ‘‘(B) standards of conduct for observers have

11 been established equivalent to those applicable to

12 Federal personnel; and

13 ‘‘(C) a standard system exists of collecting,

14 analyzing, and reporting data at such time and in

15 such form as is satisfactory to the Secretary.

16 ‘‘(6)(A) Any information collected under this sub17 section shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed ex18 cept—

19 ‘‘(i) to Federal employees whose duties require

20 access to such information;

21 ‘‘(ii) to State employees pursuant to an agree22 ment with the Secretary that prevents public disclo23 sure of the identity or business of any person; or

24 ‘‘(iii) when required by court order.
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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall prescribe such procedures

2 as may be necessary to preserve such confidentiality, ex3 cept that the Secretary shall release or make public any

4 such information in aggregate, summary, or other form

5 which does not directly or indirectly disclose the identity

6 or business of any person.

7 ‘‘(g) PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT.—If the Sec8 retary determines that a person using a vessel of the Unit9 ed States or a vessel with a valid fishing permit issued

10 by the Secretary in accordance with section 204(b) of the

11 Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act has

12 knowingly violated this section, the Secretary shall—

13 ‘‘(1) on the first occasion of noncompliance,

14 withdraw all fishing rights and privileges of that

15 person or vessel for 30 consecutive days;

16 ‘‘(2) on the second occasion of noncompliance,

17 withdraw all fishing rights and privileges of that

18 person or vessel for 6 consecutive months; and

19 ‘‘(3) use any other provisions of sections 105,

20 106, or 107 that the Secretary deems appropriate.

21 No penalty shall be assessed unless such person is given

22 notice and opportunity for a hearing with respect to such

23 violation. Any penalty may be remitted or mitigated by

24 the Secretary for good cause shown.
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1 ‘‘(h) CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary may accept

2 contributions of equipment or services for use in admin3 istering this section.

4 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

5 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of

6 Commerce, for purposes of carrying out this section,

7 $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996,

8 1997, 1998, and 1999.’’.

9 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF PINNIPED INTERACTION TASK

10 FORCE.

11 Section 104 (16 U.S.C. 1374) is amended by adding

12 at the end the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(i)(1) Not later than 60 days after the date of the

14 enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Amend15 ments of 1993, the Secretary, in consultation with the Ma16 rine Mammal Commission, shall establish a Pinniped

17 Interaction Task Force to advise the Secretary on man18 agement practices regarding pinnipeds interacting in a

19 dangerous or damaging manner with salmonid fishery

20 resources.

21 ‘‘(2) The Pinniped Interaction Task Force shall con22 sist of designated employees of the Department of Com23 merce, individuals with expertise in pinniped biology and

24 ecology and commercial fishing technology and practices,

25 particularly aquaculture technology; and representatives
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1 from States, environmental organizations, Alaska Native

2 corporations, treaty tribes, and others as the Secretary

3 deems appropriate.

4 ‘‘(3) The Pinniped Interaction Task Force shall ad5 vise the Secretary regarding—

6 ‘‘(A) the use of available alternative fishing

7 gear or practices to mitigate the interaction;

8 ‘‘(B) in the event that no alternative gears are

9 currently available, research into such alternatives;

10 and

11 ‘‘(C) other means of mitigating the interaction,

12 including the use of limited intentional lethal

13 takes.’’.

14 SEC. 8. TREATY RIGHTS.

15 Nothing in this Act is intended to abrogate existing

16 fishing or hunting rights reserved to Indian tribes by trea17 ty with the United States.

18 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

19 The Act is amended—

20 (1) in the table of contents by inserting after

21 the item relating to section 117 the following:

‘‘Sec. 118. General authorization for commercial fisheries.’’;

22 (2) in section 101(a)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(2))

23 by striking ‘‘permits may be issued therefor’’ and all

24 that follows through ‘‘section 103.’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘an authorization may be issued therefor under this
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1 section and section 118 subject to regulations pre2 scribed by the Secretary.’’;

3 (3) in section 102(a) (16 U.S.C. 1372(a)) by

4 striking ‘‘and 114’’ and inserting ‘‘114, and 118’’;

5 (4) by redesignating the title III of that Act

6 that was added by section 3003 of the Marine Mam7 mal Health and Stranding Response Act (106 Stat.

8 5060) as title IV;

9 (5) by redesignating each of the sections of that

10 title in order as sections 401, 402, 403, 404, 405,

11 406, 407, 408, and 409;

12 (6) in section 401(b)(3) as redesignated by this

13 section by striking ‘‘304’’ and inserting in lieu there14 of ‘‘404’’;

15 (7) in section 405(b)(1)(A)(i) as redesignated

16 by this section by striking ‘‘304(b)’’ and inserting in

17 lieu thereof ‘‘404(b)’’;

18 (8) in section 406(a)(2)(A) as redesignated by

19 this section by striking ‘‘304(b)’’ and inserting in

20 lieu thereof ‘‘404(b)’’;

21 (9) in section 406(a)(2)(B) as redesignated by

22 this section by striking ‘‘304(c)’’ and inserting in

23 lieu thereof ‘‘404(c)’’;

24 (10) in section 408(1) as redesignated by this

25 section—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘305’’ and inserting in lieu

2 thereof ‘‘405’’, and

3 (B) by striking ‘‘307’’ and inserting in lieu

4 thereof ‘‘407’’;

5 (11) in section 408(2) as redesignated by this

6 section by striking ‘‘307’’ and inserting in lieu there7 of ‘‘407’’;

8 (12) in section 409(1) as redesignated by this

9 section by striking ‘‘305(a)’’ and inserting in lieu

10 thereof ‘‘405(a)’’;

11 (13) in section 409(5) as redesignated by this

12 section by striking ‘‘307(a)’’ and inserting in lieu

13 thereof ‘‘407(a)’’;

14 (14) in section 102(a) (16 U.S.C. 1372(a)) by

15 striking ‘‘title III’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

16 ‘‘title IV’’;

17 (15) in section 109(h)(1) (16 U.S.C.

18 1379(h)(1)) by striking ‘‘title III’’ and inserting in

19 lieu thereof ‘‘title IV’’;

20 (16) in section 112(c) (16 U.S.C. 1382(c)) by

21 striking ‘‘or title III’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

22 ‘‘or title IV’’; and

23 (17) by amending the table of contents con24 tained in the first section accordingly.
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1 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

2 Section 3 (16 U.S.C. 1362) is amended—

3 (1) by inserting the following new paragraphs

4 (1) and (2) and renumbering all other paragraphs

5 accordingly:

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘critical stock’ means a marine

7 mammal species or population stock—

8 ‘‘(A) which is below its maximum net pro9 ductivity level and is not likely to rebuild to

10 that level without significant delay unless action

11 is taken to reduce human-caused mortality or

12 habitat destruction;

13 ‘‘(B) which currently is above its maximum

14 net productivity level but is likely to be reduced

15 below that level unless action is taken to reduce

16 human-caused mortality or habitat destruction;

17 or

18 ‘‘(C) the status of which is unknown or un19 certain, and the level of human-caused mortal20 ity is such that, based upon knowledge of com21 parable species or stocks, the Secretary has rea22 son to believe that it may be causing the species

23 or stock to be reduced or maintained below its

24 maximum net productivity level.

25 ‘‘(2) The term ‘current carrying capacity’

26 means the largest average number of animals sup-
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1 ported by the habitat within the historic range of a

2 species or population stock prior to human-caused

3 habitat degradation or enhancement, modified to

4 take into account increases and decreases due to

5 natural causes or human-caused effects which for all

6 practical purposes are irreversible.’’;

7 (3) by inserting the following new paragraph

8 (10) and renumbering all other paragraphs accord9 ingly—

10 ‘‘(10) The term ‘maximum net productivity

11 level’ means the population size, age, and gender

12 composition at which the net annual increase in pop13 ulation size resulting from additions to the popu14 lations due to reproduction, less losses due to natu15 ral mortality, is maximized.’’;

16 (4) by inserting the following new paragraph

17 (15) and renumbering all other paragraphs accord18 ingly:

19 ‘‘(15) The term ‘potential biological removal’

20 means the number of animals that may be removed

21 from a marine mammal population stock without

22 causing that stock to be reduced to, or to be main23 tained for a significant period of time at, a level

24 below its maximum net productivity level. Potential
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1 biological removal levels shall be calculated as fol2 lows:

3 ‘‘(A) for a species or stock that is below its

4 maximum net productivity level, that part of

5 the net annual increment that can be taken

6 without significantly delaying the time it will

7 take the population to rebuild to its maximum

8 net productivity level; or

9 ‘‘(B) for a species or stock whose status is

10 uncertain, the product of the minimum population estimate times 1 11 ⁄2 of the best available es12 timate of population growth rate at the maxi13 mum net productivity level, multiplied by a re14 covery factor of—

15 ‘‘(i) 0.1 for populations whose mini16 mum population estimate is less than

17 10,000; and

18 ‘‘(ii) 0.5 for populations whose mini19 mum population estimate is greater than

20 10,000.’’; and

21 (5) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(18) The term ‘Regional Council’ means a Re23 gional Fishery Management Council established

24 under section 302 of the Magnuson Fishery Con25 servation and Management Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR MA2 RINE MAMMAL COMMISSION.

3 Title II (16 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) is amended in sec4 tion 207 by—

5 (a) striking all from ‘‘$672,000 for fiscal year

6 1982’’ through ‘‘1992, and’’;

7 (b) striking the period at the end; and

8 (c) inserting the following: ‘‘$1,500,000 for fis9 cal year 1994, $1,550,000 for fiscal year 1995,

10 $1,600,000 for fiscal year 1996, $1,650,000 for fis11 cal year 1997, $1,700,000 for fiscal year 1998, and

12 $1,750,000 for fiscal year 1999.’’.

13 SEC. 12. AMENDMENT TO PUBLIC LAW 102–587.

14 Section 3004 of Public Law 102–587 (106 Stat.

15 5067) is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘3(11) of the

17 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C.

18 1362(11))’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘3(12) of

19 the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16

20 U.S.C. 1362(12)’’; and

21 (2) in subsection (b)(4) by striking ‘‘title III’’

22 within the quotation marks and inserting in lieu

23 thereof ‘‘title IV’’.

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