Marine Mammals

The Department of Commerce and its National Marine Fisheries Service ask for comment on a proposed Information Collection Request under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.This request is for extension of a current information collection.

Native Americans may conduct certain aboriginal subsistence whaling under the Whaling Convention Act in accordance with the provisions of the International Whaling Commission. In order to respond to obligations under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the IWC, and the Whaling Convention Act, whaling captains participating in these operations must submit certain information to the relevant Native American whaling organization about strikes on and catch of whales. Anyone retrieving a dead whale is also required to report.

Mongabay published the following article:

• To find out if marine protected areas achieve their environmental and socioeconomic goals, we read 42 scientific studies and talked to seven experts.
• Overall, marine protected areas do appear to help marine animals recover within their boundaries. But a lot more rigorous research is needed.
• The effects of marine protected areas on socioeconomic outcomes and fisheries are less clear.
• This is part of a special Mongabay series on ‘Conservation Effectiveness.’”

Click here to read entire article.

A coalition of environmental groups filed the suit in US District Court in Washington, D.C., against officials from the Commerce Department and National Marine Fisheries Service.

The law suit claims that the federal government must do more to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from getting tangled up in lobster gear, a leading cause of death for the rapidly declining mammals.

Click here for an article discussing this lawsuit.

The U.S.  National Marine Fisheries Service has extended the comment period on NMFS’ notice of initiation of a 5-year review of the Western Distinct Population Segment of Steller sea lion (Eumetopiasjubatus) under the Endangered Species Act , and NMFS’ request for information relevant to that review. Comments related to NMFS’ 5-year review of the western DPS of Steller sea lion must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal or received at the appropriate address by April 6, 2018. However, NMFS will continue to accept new information about Steller sea lions at any time.

Click here for more detail and relevant links.

The Danish Marine Mammal Symposium is an annual event convened by the Danish Marine Mammal Society. Marine mammal research inDenmark exhibits growing activity and great diversity with groups working within disciplinessuch as behaviour, acoustics, communication, morphology, population biology, ecology,genetics, evolution, systematics and nomenclature. As such, the symposium comprises anideal setting for learning more about marine mammal research, meeting researchers,educators, students and managers, and getting inspiration and contacts for e.g. thesisprojects. The symposium will be held in English for a broader outreach in general and in particular toembrace the increasing number of international students and researchers in Denmark.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requests public comment on a draft revised marine mammal stock assessment report for the northern sea otter stock in the State of Washington. NMFS will accept comment that are received or postmarked on or before April 17, 2017.  Click here for more details and relevant links.

The U.S.Marine Mammal Commission received a grant award from the North Pacific Research Board to identify essential components and key impediments to effective co-management of marine mammals in Alaska. The overall goal of this project is to strengthen relationships and support co-management to improve the conservation of marine mammals in a region where they provide food security for Alaska Natives and are also of critical ecological, social, and economic importance. Click here for more detail and relevant links.

Cosmos magazine posted an article entitled “Why do whales strand themselves?”  This article explained that strandings have occurred for as long as man can remember, and opined that there might not be pone specific cause.  The article makes a plea for “empiricism, to think these things through carefully,…. We need to look at things with proper, evidence-based science.” Click here to read the entire article.

The News Tribune posted the following article:

“Whale-watching industry is growing despite distance restrictions, according to study

BY LYNDA V. MAPES

Seattle Times

Restrictions on vessel traffic have helped keep more boaters farther from critically endangered southern-resident killer whales, while not harming the whale-watch industry, a new study has found.

Federal restrictions enacted in 2011 require whale-watch boats and other vessels to stay at least 200 yards away from orca whales. That’s a long way — two football-field lengths — and doubled the buffer. Yet whale-watch tourism continues to grow, the technical memorandum from NOAA found.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published its review of the Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports as required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. NMFS solicits public comments on the draft 2017 SARs. Comments must be received by NMFS by March 19, 2018.  Click here for more details and relevant links.