report on marine mammal populations

report on marine mammal populations Sec. 1101. The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall provide to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Commit-tee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the House of Representatives within 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act a report— (1) assessing population sizes and trends of harbor seals, sea otters, California sea lions, and northern sea lions off the coast of the State of Washington, which assessment shall include the historic, present, and projected population sizes and the overall health of current populations of such marine mammals; (2) assessing the effectiveness of sections 101(a)(3)(A) and 109(h) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(3)(A) and 1379(h)) with particular emphasis on the management of the lower Columbia River and Puget Sound marine mammal populations, which assessment shall describe how the agencies are interpreting and implementing such sections, how often such sections have been invoked, and whether such sections have been effective in the management of marine mammal populations and in responding to the problems which such sections were intended to address; and (3) specifying long range management plans for the species of marine mammals listed in paragraph (1).