The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued regulations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to govern the the U.S. Navy’s unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to training and testing activities conducted in the Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing Study Area from December 2013 through December 2018. These regulations allow NMFS to issue Letters of Authorization for the incidental take of marine mammals during the Navy’s specified activities and timeframes, set forth the permissible methods of taking, set forth other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, and set forth requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of the incidental take.
Click here to read regulations.