RES 166 Draft 01 2020-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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i WHEREAS, on October 21, 1972 the Marine Mammal Protection Act ("MMPA") was enacted to protect all marine mammals and prohibit, with certain exceptions, the "take" of marine mammals in United States waters and by United States citizens on the high seas; and WHEREAS, Congress passed the MMPA in response to increasing concerns among scientists and the public that significant declines in some species of marine mammals were caused by human activities; and WHEREAS, the MMPA established a national policy to prevent marine mammal species from declining beyond the point where they ceased to be significantly functioning elements of their ecosystems; and WHEREAS, in implementing the MMPA, the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service is responsible for the protection of dolphins while the Marine Mammal Commission provides independent, science -based oversight of domestic and international policies and actions of federal agencies addressing human impacts on marine mammals and their ecosystems; and WHEREAS, in 1994 the MMPA was substantially amended, which included a statutory definition of the term "harassment" as a prohibited activity meaning "any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance, which has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild; or has the potential to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering"; and WHEREAS, on August 24, 2016, NOAA published a proposed rule entitled "Protective Regulations, for Hawaiian Spinner .Dolphins Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act" to prohibit swimming with and approaching a Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin within fifty yards (45.7 m) for persons, vessels, and objects, including approach by interception; and WHEREAS, NOAA Fisheries conducted six public hearings on the proposed rule to collect oral testimony, including two hearings on Hawaii Island in September 2016 with a public comment period that ended on October 23, 2016; and