Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Program

Stock Assessment Program | Scientific Review Groups | Stock Assessment Reports

Marine Mammal Observer Photo: NOAA

Overview
In general, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits the "taking" of marine mammals on lands or waters under U.S. jurisdiction. The MMPA also contains exceptions to this general prohibition on take, most of which require certain findings or determinations related to the effect of taking on marine mammal stocks. In addition, the MMPA directs NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to evaluate the status of marine mammal populations and to prepare conservation plans to promote the recovery of depleted stocks of marine mammals.

The marine mammal stock assessment program supplies the information needed to

• Identify and assess the status of marine mammal stocks
• Make findings and determinations required to authorize take of marine mammals
• Evaluate the effects of human activities or natural environmental variability on marine mammals
• Provide a scientific basis to design conservation measures to minimize the impacts of human activities
• Promote recovery of depleted stocks of marine mammals

CSCAPE 2005: WA-OR-CA Marine Mammals Observations (click for larger view)

Data collection, analysis, and interpretation are conducted through marine mammal research programs at each NMFS Fisheries Science Center. Draft reports of research and assessment programs are subjected to quality assurance (peer review) within the Science Centers, by the three independent Scientific Review Groups, any by other qualified experts, such as editorial boards for scientific journals or the Center for Independent Experts.

Stock Assessment Reports
The products of NMFS' marine mammal research and monitoring program are used in a variety of ways, including the Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports. Information summarized in these reports, or explained in detail in the references cited in the reports, contribute to

• Permitting/authorization process
• Status reviews for listing as threatened or endangered under the ESA or depleted under the MMPA
• Conservation plans and recovery plans to promote recovery of depleted, threatened, or endangered species
• Reducing mortality and serious injury of marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing operations

More Information
You may find more details on marine mammal research programs in Science Centers across the country:

• Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Protected Species Branch of the Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division
• Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Marine Mammal Program of the Protected Resources and Biodiversity Division
• Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML)
• Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Marine Mammal Program of the Conservation Biology Division
• Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) Protected Resources Division
• Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Protected Species Division