The Environmental Law Institute has recently been awarded a six-month research contract by the Marine Mammal Commission, which was established by Title II of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Among the duties assigned to it by Congress, the Commission was ordered to "undertake a review and study of the activities of the United States pursuant to existing laws and international conventions relating to marine mammals, including, but not limited to, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the Whaling Convention Act of 1949, the Interim Convention on the Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals, and the Fur Seal Act of 1966." It is this study that ELI has contracted to produce.

The Marine Mammal Commission has requested that the study analyze gaps and inconsistencies in the body of law that affects marine mammals. The study should also evaluate the performance of those federal agencies involved in the administration and enforcement of statutory and treaty provisions. Has the Secretary of Interior made designations of endangered species in conformity with the policy of the Act? Have the responsibilities of the Commerce Department under such statutes as Coastal Zone Management and Ocean Dumping, as well as the Marine Mammal Protection Act itself, been exercised with due regard to conservation of marine mammals and their habitat? What negotiating positions have been adopted by the State Department and other agencies in reviews and renegotiations of fishery, sealing, and whaling conventions? Are these consistent with the policy directives written into the Act? From the answers to such questions, the study will formulate proposals for legislative and administrative reform and reorganization designed to help achieve a uniform and coordinated national policy respecting the various species that are the object of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.The Environmental Law Institute anticipates publishing the study's analyses and conclusions in monograph form.

The Principal Investigator for the research is Sanford Gaines. A 1974 graduate of Harvard Law School, Mr. Gaines just completed a year of research on marine and water pollution problems at Negoya University, Japan. Inquiries, suggestions, references, or information are all welcome and should be addressed to Mr. Gaines at the Environmental Law Institute.