Marine Mammals

The United States National Marine Fisheries Service published the following notice:

“In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to the U.S. Navy (Navy) to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during target and missile launch activities on San Nicolas Island (SNI), California for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), Point Mugu Sea Range (PMSR). The Navy’s activity is considered a military readiness activity pursuant to MMPA, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004.”

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has announced the public availability of 46 final 2018 Stock Assessment Reports that have been updated and finalized. These SARs are required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.  Click here for more information and relevant links.

As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Secretary of Commerce established three independent regional scientific review groups (SRGs) to provide advice on a range of marine mammal science and management issues. NOAA Fisheries conducted a membership review of the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific SRGs, and is soliciting nominations for new members to fill vacancies and gaps in expertise.

Click here for more details and relevant links.

The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce has established three independent regional scientific review groups to provide advice on a range of marine mammal science and management issues.  The Secretary has conducted a membership review of the Alaska, Atlantic and Pacific SRGs, and is soliciting nominations for new members to fill vacancies and gaps in expertise. Nominations must be received by August 15, 2018.

Click here for more details and relevant links.

As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act., The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published final 2017 marine mammal stock assessment reports  for the 75 stocks that were updated. Electronic copies of SARs are available on the internet as regional compilations at the following address: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/marine-mammal-stock-assessment-reports-region

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has extended the opening date of the subsistence use season of the Eastern Pacific stock of northern fur seals (Callorhinusursinus) by opening the season on June 20, 2018, in response to a request from the Traditional Council of St. George Island, Tribal Government. The subsistence use regulations at 50 CFR 216.72(a) authorize the extension of the northern fur seal harvest earlier than the scheduled opening date of June 23. The opening of the season three days earlier is intended to provide meat for the community of St. George Island in response to the unavailability of food in the community store due to unforeseen flight cancellations and the complete consumption of fur seal meat from harvests in 2017.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has announced the availability of a draft environmental impact pursuant to the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of This draft EIS assesses the impacts of issuing annual catch limits for the subsistence harvest of bowhead whales by Alaska Natives from 2019 onward. The official 60-day comment period for comments on the draft EIS began on June 1, 2018 and will end on July 31, 2018.

Click here for more detail and relevant links.

Scientific American published an article entitled “Marine Protected Areas Are Important, but…they can’t do their job of protecting aquatic ecosystems if people fail to respect their boundaries”.

Click here to read this entire article.

On April 11, 2018, Nikki Martin, President of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors, today issued the following statement regarding the New Zealand Government’s announcement that it would end oil and gas exploration:

“The New Zealand government’s announcement to end oil and gas exploration demonstrates a lack of consideration for the nation’s energy future and the exploration industry’s long history of safely and successfully coexisting with the marine environment. In New Zealand and around the world seismic and exploration activities have been conducted extensively for over 50 years alongside stable and even thriving marine life populations. Contrary to the characterization that dependence on fossil fuels has held the nation back, access to safe, affordable oil and gas energy ensures citizens’ well-being,provides stable employment and lifts those in poverty.

A special session on “Passive Acoustic Density Estimation: Recent Advances and Outcomes for Terrestrial and Marine Species” is being held during the upcoming 176th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) on 5-9 November 2018 to be held in the beautiful city of Victoria, British Columbia Canada.   Abstracts are due the 29th of May, 2018.

In the past, similar sessions at ASA have included marine mammal biologists and bioacoustic researchers presenting their work on related to
science and conservation of marine mammals. The organizers encourage researchersworking on a wide range of taxonomic study subjects, including marine mammals, to present talks at this special session.