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NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan
Protected Resources - Objective 6
OBJECTIVE 6: Reduce conflicts that involve protected species
Many human activities such as fishing, shipping, coastal development, seismic exploration, and offshore mineral development lead to conflicts between humans and protected marine species. If these species are to be protected, the effects of these conflicts on the species must be minimized or eliminated. In addition, some marine mammals may have detrimental effects on other protected marine species or interfere with human activities. Since they are themselves protected, such conflicts must be handled with great care. Reducing or eliminating all these conflicts is an important part of our mandate to manage protected marine species.
Performance Measures
In the next 5 years, NOAA Fisheries will:
- Reduce takes of protected species incidental to fishing and other human activities to biologically insignificant levels.
- Reduce detrimental effects of marine mammals on other protected species, consistent with marine mammal conservation objectives.
- Reduce marine mammal conflicts with human activities, consistent with marine mammal conservation objectives.
Strategies
- We will identify and assess the magnitude of incidental takes of protected marine species.
- We will establish sustainable levels of takes for all protected marine species and continue to improve the estimates of these levels through ecologically sound research.
- We will work through domestic and international cooperative relationships with industry and environmental groups, including take reduction teams, special task forces, and other needed scientific collaborations.
- We will increase public outreach and education to heighten awareness of activities which may harm protected marine species. This may involve the development of codes of conduct governing interactions with protected marine species in the wild.
- We will explore, develop, and implement new technologies and practices for reducing detrimental interactions. When such technologies could reduce detrimental effects both to and from protected species in other nations, these technologies will be made available to those nations.
- We will identify and assess the detrimental effects of marine mammals on other protected marine species.
- We will take the lead in working with state, local, and private groups to identify and reduce the impacts of burgeoning pinniped populations on human activities and property.
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