[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 145 (Thursday, October 16, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2062-E2063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCING THE MARINE MAMMAL PRESERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT (MMPRA) OF 
                                  2003

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 16, 2003

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, when the Marine Mammal Protection Act 
(MMPA) was enacted in 1972, it was with a vision of protection and 
precaution. It was created to right the ecological wrongs caused by 
generations of slaughter driven by our collective greed for the 
products that marine mammals supplied. The founding goal of the MMPA 
was to provide a broad moratorium on the taking of marine mammals in 
order to maintain and rebuild healthy populations of whales and 
dolphins, seals and sea lions, and other marine mammals.
  To a noteworthy extent, protection and precaution have paid off. We 
should celebrate that some marine mammal species have recovered to 
estimated pre-harvest levels. But we should not be lulled into a false 
sense of complacency. Many populations, such as North Atlantic right 
whales and bowhead whales in the Arctic, remain endangered. We also 
cannot ignore that the full breadth and intensity of human activity in 
the ocean, including shipping, oil and gas exploration, and military 
activity, has a profound effect on marine mammals, even if we do not 
seek to kill them outright.
  It is for these reasons that I introduce this bill today that would 
reauthorize the Marine Mammal Protection Act in a way that preserves 
its precautionary intent. Summarizing key provisions, the bill would:
  Provide a refined definition for the term ``harassment'' that is 
consistent with the recommendations of the National Research Council 
and accounts for the cumulative, as opposed to merely incidental, 
effects of behavioral changes in marine mammals.
  Enhance protections for marine mammals in captivity, including the 
establishment of a new advisory committee to encourage the promulgation 
of regulations by the Secretary of Agriculture for captive care and 
maintenance, an updated and publicly accessible captive marine mammal 
inventory, and elimination of all marine mammal traveling exhibits.
  Provide increased funding opportunities for the development of 
fishing gear that would decrease harmful interactions with marine 
mammals.
  Authorize research and grant programs to study methods of non-lethal 
deterrence and

[[Page E2063]]

control of nuisance seals and sea lions, whose robust populations have 
been of growing concern in coastal California.
  Reauthorize and improve the John H. Prescott funding assistance 
program to allow an improved nationwide response to stranding and 
entanglement events.
  Clarify the provisions regarding the import and export of Native 
marine mammal handicrafts.
  Modernize the system of penalties and fines for violations of the Act 
for the first time in 30 years.
  Expand the list of fisheries included in the take reduction team 
process to include both commercial and non-commercial fisheries using 
comparable gear.
  Contrary to the efforts of others in this Congress to weaken the MMPA 
through strategic piecemeal amendments, I have always urged that the 
MMPA deserves nothing less than a comprehensive reauthorization.
  The Resources Committee Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, 
Wildlife and Oceans, to the immeasurable credit of Chairman Wayne 
Gilchrest and his predecessor, the former Chairman James Saxton, 
invested significant time and resources over the past 4 years in 
conducting a series of oversight hearings regarding implementation of 
the Act and needs for reauthorization. This substantive analysis has 
not been squandered and has, in fact, been incorporated into this 
legislation.
  This bill also reflects the best of the ideas forwarded by the 
Administration in their proposal regarding priorities and 
recommendations for reauthorization of the Act. Moreover, this bill 
incorporates the best ideas offered by a wide range of stakeholders 
ranging from the sportfishing and public display industries to the 
animal welfare and environmental communities.
  Maintaining protection for marine mammals need not be a contentious 
or partisan issue. I urge support of this comprehensive and 
precautionary-minded reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act.

                          ____________________