The Marine Mammal Commission, in consultation with its Committee ofScientific Advisors on Marine Mammals, filed comments on the December 2013 application from BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc. (BP), seeking an incidental harassment authorization under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to take small numbers of marine mammals by harassment incidental to a three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey in North Prudhoe Bay, Beaufort Sea, Alaska during the 2014 Arctic open-water season. MMC filed these comments in response to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 15 May 2014 notice (79 Fed. Reg. 21354) announcing receipt of the application and proposing to issue the authorization, subject to certain conditions.
Pursuant to its regulations governing the subsistence taking of northern fur seals, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service seeks comments on its summary of the annual fur seal subsistence harvests on St. George and St. Paul Islands (the Pribilof Islands) for 2011–2013, and on its proposed annual estimates of fur seal subsistence harvests for 2014–2016 on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. NMFS must receive any comments no later than June 13, 2014. Click here to read Federal Register notice soliciting comments.
The Navy Living Marine Resources applied research program is seeking pre-proposals in three topic areas related to underwater sound produced by human activities and its effect on marine life. Topics include hearing measurements in a broad range of marine mammal species, population density estimation from passive acoustic monitoring, and marine species monitoring data collection toolkit development. Potential applicants are encouraged to visit the LMR website , for more information about the LMR program and the solicitation. Federal government applicants are not eligible to submit proposals under the BAA, but will be able to submit proposal statements directly to the relevant Navy Statement of Need. Academic, non-federal government, nonprofit, and private sector submitters should select the Broad Agency Announcement,Solicitation Number N39430-14-R-1464, when submitting their proposal. The BAA can be viewed at the LMR website . All submissions must be made via the LMR website. The solicitation period will close on 16 June 2014 (see website or BAA for official dates and other guidance).
The Mexican Society for Marine Mammals (SOMEMMA) is holding their *XXXIV International Meeting for the Study of Marine Mammals in Quertaro City, May 12 – 15, 2014. The meeting’s theme this year is “Multidisciplinarity as a strategy to solve marine mammal conservation conundrums.” The keynote speakers are Frances Gulland, Mariano Sironi, Laura Martinez-Levasseur and Ileana Espejel. For more information, please click here.
In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published Federal register notice of FWS’ revised stock assessment report for the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) stock and for each of the
following northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) stocks in Alaska: Southwest, Southcentral, and Southeast. Click here to read Federal Register notice of these revised SARs.
NMFS has received an application from Buccaneer Alaska Operation, LLC (Buccaneer) for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a multi-well offshore exploratory a multi-well offshore exploratory drilling program in upper Cook Inlet during the 2014 open water season. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to Buccaneer to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, marine mammals during the specified activity. NMFS must receive any comments and information no later than May 7, 2014. Click here to read Federal Register notice of this IHA.
The International Maritime Organization adopted guidelines to reduce underwater noise from commercial ships
The new guidelines:
– recognize that shipping noise may have short-term and long-term impacts on marine life;
– call for measurement of shipping noise according to objective ISO standards, which are themselves on the verge of adoption;
– identify computational models for determining effective quieting measures;
– provide guidance for designing quieter ships and for reducing noise from existing ships, especially from propeller cavitation; and
In a 12-to-4 judgment, the International Court of Justice in The Hague court found that Japan was in breach of its international obligations by catching and killing minke whales and issuing permits for hunting humpback and fin whales within the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, established by the International Whaling Commission.
Reading a summary of the judgment, the presiding judge, Peter Tomka of Slovakia, said that the latest Japanese program, which was expanded in 2005, had involved the killing of thousands of minke whales and a number of fin whales, but that its “scientific output to date appears limited.” The ruling suggests that Japan’s whaling hunt was based on politics and logistics, rather than science.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has received a request from the U.S. Navy for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the training and testing activities conducted in the Mariana Islands Training and Testing study area from March 2015 through March 2020. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS is requesting comments on its proposal to issue regulations and subsequent Letter of Authorization to the Navy to incidentally harass marine mammals. Comments and information must be received by NMFS no later than May 5, 2014. Click here to read Federal Register notice of this proposed LOA.
The Mexican Society for Marine Mammalogy (SOMEMMA) invites the
Marine Mammal community to SOMEMMA’s XXXIV International Meeting for the Study
of Marine Mammals that will be held in Queretaro City, May 12 – 15. The
meeting’s theme is “Multidisciplinarity as a strategy to solve marine mammal conservation conundrums”.
The Deadline for early (low cost) registration is 22 march 2014 (40 USD for
students that are SOMEMMA members, 72 USD for non member students; 80 USD
for professionals that are SOMEMMA members, 114 USD for professionals that
are not SOMEMMA members)
Detailed information can be found here.