NOAA Seeks Applications for Marine Sanctuary Advisory Councils

The U.S. Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks applications for vacant seats for seven of its 13 national marine sanctuary advisory Councils. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; views regarding the protection and management of marine or Great Lake resources; and possibly the length of

residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members or alternates should expect to serve two- or three-year terms, pursuant to the charter of the specific national marine sanctuary advisory Council.

Will Scotland’s Marine Protected Areas Destroy Small Fishing Towns?

A recent BBC article examines concerns that proposed marine protected areas in Scotland would devastate small fishing communities there. Environmentalists and the Government disagree.

Click here to read the BBC examination of this issue.

ICMMPA 3 Proceedings Available

Proceedings from the International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas (ICMMPA 3) have been released today, along with the formal announcement of a fourth conference to be held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Nov. 13-17, 2016. The 95-page publication includes summaries of the individual talks, discussions, workshops and side events.

ICMMPA 3 had two main goals (1) to highlight the challenges of place and size for protected areas that feature or include marine mammals, and (2) to explore the use of a new tool for conservation: the important marine mammal area, or IMMA, designation which the closely associated IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force has been developing.

CRE’s Initial Comments to NAS Cumulative Effects on Marine Mammals Committee

The National Research Council’s Ocean Studies Board, which is part of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, has convened a committee that will conduct a workshop and review the present scientific understanding of cumulative effects of anthropogenic stressors on marine mammals with a focus on anthropogenic sound. The committee will assess current methodologies used for evaluating cumulative effects and identify new approaches that could improve these assessments. The committee will examine theoretical and field methods used to assess the effect of anthropogenic stressors for:

• Short or infrequent exposure in the context of other known stressors (i.e. multiple stressors, both natural and anthropogenic); and