The International Association of Geophysical Contractors has posted the following position on oil and gas seismic and fisheries:
“Seismic & Fisheries:
Marine seismic surveys have been conducted since the 1950s, and experience shows that fisheries and seismic activities can and do coexist. There has been no observation of direct physical injury or death to free-ranging fish caused by seismic survey activity.
Learn more.”
In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act amended, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an incidental harassment authorization to the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University to incidentally harass marine mammals during a marine geophysical survey in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The authorization is effective for a period of one year, from September 1, 2020, through August 31, 2021
On March 27, 2020, NMFS received a request from L–DEO for an IHA to take marine mammals incidental to a marine geophysical survey along and across the Aleutian Andreanof Arc in Alaska. L– DEO submitted a revised version of the application, which was deemed adequate and complete, on June 25, 2020. NMFS published a proposed IHA for public review and comment on July 28, 2020 (85 FR 45389).
