The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program Report FY 2011–2015

Since FY2001, Congress has appropriated approximately $1 to 4 million
annually to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries)
to fund the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant
Program under the authority of Title IV of the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA), which formally established the Marine Mammal Health and
Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) in 1992. NOAA Fisheries funds
eligible members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network
through grants and cooperative agreements for the recovery or treatment of
marine mammals, the collection of data from living or dead stranded marine
mammals for health research, and the support of facility operation costs.
From 2001 through 2015, the Program awarded more than $48.2 million in
funding through 552 competitive grants to Stranding Network members in
24 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia. Additionally, NOAA
Fisheries sets aside a portion of Prescott funds for emergency assistance
with unforeseen stranding events, and provided $2.3 million in emergency
funds from 2001 to 2015.