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Lenzini, Paul A., attorney for the Fouke Co., letter of September 29, 1971, to Hon. John Dingell_

Marston, M. A., Assistant to the Director, Department of the Interior, letter of October 5, 1971, to Hon. John D. Dingell.......... McLeod, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas K. letter of June 5, 1971, to President Richard M. Nixon....

Monahan, William F., Marineland of the Pacific, Inc.:

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268

166

318

Letter of September 16, 1971, to Hon. John D. Dingell....
Letter of May 28, 1971, to Hon. Fred R. Harris___

545

545

Poole, Daniel A., letter of June 9, 1971, to President Richard M.
Nixon from himself and others__-

515

Prescott, John H., memorandum of September 15, 1971, to William F.
Monahan__.

546

Pryor, Hon. David, letter of September 22, 1971, to Hon. John
Dingell__.

83

Richardson, David T., letter of September 22, 1971, to Frank Potter,
Jr..

537

Schulman, Paul, Fur Brokers Association of America, Inc., letter of
September 22, 1971, to Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife
Conservation.

Sharood, Richard N.:

Letter of December 30, 1970, to Philip M. Roedel_ Letter of February 1, 1971, to John W. Townsend, Jr.. Stans, Maurice H.:

Letter of September 7, 1971, to Hon. John D. Dingell-
Letter of September 24, 1971, to Hon. John D. Dingell.

Stevens, Hon. Ted, letter of June 7, 1971, on S. 1315_

Symmes, Harrison M., response to letter of August 17, 1971, of Hon.

John D. Dingell_

Townsend, John W., Jr.:

Letter of January 12, 1971, to Richard N. Sharood_
Letter of February 23, 1971, to Richard N. Sharood_.

Vandevere, Judson E.:

Letter of September 24, 1971, to Hon. Glenn M. Anderson._.
Letter of September 24, 1971, to Hon. John D. Dingell_
Woods, F. C., Department of the Navy, letter of September 15, 1971,
to Hon. John Dingell___

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MARINE MAMMALS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1971

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE OF MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee convened at 9:30 a.m., in room 1334, Longworth Office Building, Hon. John D. Dingell, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding.

Mr. DINGELL. The subcommittee will come to order.

The Chair announces that we have a very extensive witness list, and a very limited amount of time, and because of the pendency of legislation on the floor this afternoon in which this committee is very directly interested, that is the ocean dumping legislation, it will be necessary for the committee to proceed expeditiously as possible.

For that reason, the Chair prays the indulgence of the membership in reducing the amount of time and number of questions for each witness.

I am sure the membership will cooperate as fully as possible. The schedule of witnesses and the time of their appearance is before each member.

The first witness was to be our distinguished chairman, the Honorable Edward Garmatz, who is detained elsewhere in another meeting, and as soon as he has concluded that matter, he will be here.

I would like to say at the outset of these hearings that this subcommittee approaches the subject of marine mammal protection with open minds and no preconceptions as to the best way to deal with the problems which these animals confront.

That there are problems I think no one can deny. For years men have been killing whales and other marine mammals "as though there were no tomorrow," and while the evidence to support this theory may from time to time appear impressive. I think we must assume that tomorrow will happen and that we cannot continue to invade our biological capital without exposing ourselves to risks which we would be better advised to avoid.

The range of animals comprehended by most of the legislation before this committee includes whales, seals, walruses, sea otters, polar bears, and the sea cows, the largest species of which known to man has already been hunted to extinction. These animals are found on the high seas, in territorial waters and on U.S. lands. Their current protection varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and from species to species.

Federal interest in these animals varies widely as well. With the single exception of the Alaska fur seal, our research efforts to learn

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more of these animals has been, to put it charitably, very limited. The committee will be very much interested to learn from the witnesses just what they feel the level of funding should be, if we are to develop the knowledge that we must have in order to deal fairly and adequately with these animals, some of whom may be at least as intelligent as man-and what should be done to protect them in the interval before this research has been completed.

In these hearings we will attempt to develop the best available evidence as to what is happening to these species, and what additional protection they may require beyond what they may already haveif any. In many cases hard evidence will be lacking, which is itself indicative of present inadequacies of research and perhaps even protection.

Critics of present programs relating to marine mammals argue that the killing of any animals for any purpose ultimately involves moral or ethical questions. I would suggest that such questions become far more acute where this killing can be shown to be inhumane or where there is any possibility that it may produce irreversible consequences on animal species or important population stocks. In these cases we must act cautiously indeed.

In the course of the recent International Conference on the Biology of Whales, the suggestion was made that the burden of proof that any given rate of harvesting a species or stock will not damage that species or stock must rest with those who would benefit from that harvest. This strikes me as a rational and defensible principle upon which to base any scheme for the protection of marine mammals, and I commend it as a possible common thread of understanding to be kept in mind as these hearings proceed.

Once destroyed, biological capital cannot be recreated. This, it seems to me, argues irresistibly for prudent, responsible action on the part of everyone.

There are many bills presently pending before the committee which deal with the protection of some or all species of marine mammals. Some provide research authority only-H.R. 6804 by Mr. Whitehurst; some deal with only certain types of marine mammals-H.R. 7463, by Mr. Anderson of California; some are directed at the humane or inhumane methods of taking- House Concurrent Resolution 77, by Mr. Ryan and others; and H.R. 4370, by Mr. Helstoski. Mr. Pryor has introduced, with some 100 cosponsors, a bill which would impose an absolute ban upon the taking of all such mammals-H.R. 6558 and others and Mr. Anderson and several others have introduced an alternative which would impose such a ban, but would permit the Secretary of the Interior to issue permits for the taking of marine mammals, after full public review-H.R. 10420.

Time is very limited, and I will not use any more of it here.

We have an impressive group of witnesses before us, and we look forward to hearing from all of them.

Because time is so limited we have taken the unusual and very distasteful step of limiting the time for testimony.

The committee staff has been in touch with all of these witnesses and their representatives, and I am sure anything they wish to say can be submitted in writing, and may be done in complete detail as they wish, and to ask that they summarize their oral testimony as succinctly as possible.

My colleagues and I will be sparing in questions at this time and it may be that some of the witnesses may be called back for more extended discussion at a later time, or there will be requests for submissions by correspondence.

For that reason, it is requested that all of our witnesses this morning make sure they have given the staff their address so that the committee may as necessary, communicate further with them.

The Chair asks the indulgence of all in the request elucidated, and I am sure we will have not only a successful hearing but the cooperation of everyone.

(The bills and departmental reports follow :)

[H.R. 690, H.R. 8255, 92d Cong., first sess.]

BILLS To require the Secretary of the Interior to make a comprehensive study of the polar bear and walrus for the purpose of developing adequate conservation measures

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the States, shall make a comprehensive study of the polar bear and the walrus, taking into consideration, among other things, the distribution, migrations, and population of these mammals and the effects of hunting, disease, and food shortages on them, for the purpose of developing adequate and effective measures, including appropriate laws and regulations, to conserve such mammals on the high seas. The Secretary of the Interior shall submit, through the President, a report on the study, together with such recommendations, including suggested legislation, that he deems appropriate, to the Congress no later than January 1, 1976.

SEC. 2. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $100,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972, and for each of the three succeeding fiscal years.

[H.R. 4370, H.R. 4733, 92d Cong., first sess.]

BILLS To amend the Fur Seal Act of 1966 by prohibiting the clubbing of seals after July 1, 1972, the taking of seal pups, and the taking of female seals on the Pribilof Islands or any other land and water under the jurisdiction of the United States

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall be known as the "Humane Seal Protection Act of 1971."

SECTION 1. Section 104 of the Fur Seal Act of 1966 is amended by adding at the end of subsection (a) thereof the following new subsections:

"(b) The killing of seals by clubbing shall be prohibited after July 1, 1972. "(c) The taking of the skin of any seal under one year of age, and of any female seal, shall be prohibited."

Subsection (b) of the Act shall be redesignated subsection (d).

SEC. 2. Section 109 (d) of the Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "by any means, except after July 1, 1972, by clubbing,”.

SEC. 3. Section 404 of the Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"Whoever knowingly transports in interstate commerce, or knowingly sells subsequent to such transportation, any package containing any sealskin, or any product manufactured, made, or processed, in whole or in part, from such sealskin, which has been taken in violation of any provision of this Act shall be fined not more than $2,000, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and the gross revenue derived from any such sale of any such illegally taken skin shall be confiscated by the Secretary of the Interior and deposited into the Pribilof Island fund in the Treasury."

SEC. 4. Section 405 of the Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:

"The Secretary shall initiate or contract for research on alternative means of killing seals, with the end of replacing the currently used method of clubbing. On the basis of such research, he shall determine which killing technique is

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