Incidental Take Authorization: NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center Fisheries Research Activities
Summary
NOAA Fisheries' Office of Protected Resources (OPR), upon request from NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), issued regulations to govern the unintentional taking of marine mammals incidental to fisheries research conducted in the Atlantic Ocean along the southeastern U.S. coast and select estuaries, the Gulf of Mexico and select estuaries, and the Caribbean Sea over the course of 5 years. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and specified timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, as well as requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Map of research areas
Federal Register
Supporting Materials
- Issued LOA (pdf, 18 pages)
- LOA Application (pdf, 223 pages)
- Notice of Receipt Public Comments (pdf, 27 pages)
- Proposed Rule Public Comments
- Marine Mammal Commission Proposed Rule Comments (pdf, 14 pages)
- Biological Opinion (pdf, 428 pages)
- Biological Opinion Amendment (pdf, 11 pages)
- Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) (pdf, 444 pages)
- Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) Appendices (pdf, 140 pages)
- Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) (pdf, 19 pages)
- References (pdf, 12 pages)