NOAA Fisheries: Office of Protected Resources
Acropora palmata thicket on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Andy Bruckner, 1996 Coho salmon painting, Canadian Dept of Fisheries and Oceans Monk seal, C.E. Bowlby Humpback whale, Dr. Lou Herman
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Welcome to the Office of Protected Resources

The Office of Protected Resources (OPR) is a headquarters program office of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries Service, or NMFS), under the U.S. Department of Commerce, with responsibility for protecting marine mammals and endangered marine life.

NOAA's Office of Protected Resources works to conserve, protect, and recover species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in conjunction with our Regional Offices, Science Centers, and various partners.


Recent News and Hot Topics

05/21/2012   NMFS revises the turtle excluder device (TED) requirements to allow the use of new materials and to modify existing approved TED design
05/21/2012   Final 2011 Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports Published
05/21/2012   Makah Indian Tribe request to authorize treaty-right hunting of gray whales in Washington state; NMFS requests comments on a set of new potential alternatives for Environmental Impact Statement
05/20/2012   Updated data on increase in sea turtle strandings in the Gulf of Mexico
05/20/2012   Updated data on dolphin/ whale (Cetacean) Unusual Mortality Event in Northern Gulf of Mexico
05/18/2012   "Good Neighbors: How to Share Hawaii's Beaches with Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals" video released
05/16/2012   FY13 Prescott Grant Funding Opportunity for Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance
05/10/2012   NMFS proposes to withdraw the alternative tow time restriction and require turtle excluder devices (TEDs) for all skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls, and wing nets (butterfly trawls)
» Open for comment through 07/09/2012
» Correction to Larose, LA hearing time (now 6-8 pm on June 4, 2012)

» Hot Topics Archive

gray whale breaching
Gray Whale
(Eschrichtius robustus)
Photo: Merrill Gosho, NOAA



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