Under the new rules announced by the National Marine Fisheries Service on Dec. 20, 2018, marine mammals such as these spinner dolphins commonly found near Hawaii, will receive greater protection from Navy training and testing. (Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Thursday additional measures to protect marine mammals from “incidental” harm caused by Navy vessels training and testing in waters near Hawaii and California.
Under the new regulations, which will be in effect from 2019 through 2023, the Navy will further limit the use of sonar and explosives in two training areas off the California coast and the use of explosives around four Hawaiian islands, said Jolie Harrison, chief of Permits and Conservation Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources.
The new rule adds two areas in Southern California waters where the use of sonar and explosives will be limited, primarily to protect blue whales, Harrison said. In Hawaii, use of explosives will be limited in an area around the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu.
After the fisheries service was sued by the environmental group Earthjustice on behalf of the Conservation Council of Hawaii and other groups, the Navy in 2015 agreed to refrain from conducting exercises in sensitive areas around the island of Hawaii.
As part of the new rule, NOAA will continue to impose mitigation measures instituted in two previous five-year authorizations. They include shutting down sonar when marine mammals are in an area; waiting for animals to leave a training range prior to use of in-water explosives and then monitoring that area to see if any animals have been affected; following protocols to reduce vessel collisions with marine mammals; limiting activities during times of mammal reproduction, migration and feeding; and implementing a reporting plan for stranded or injured animals.
“The Navy has balanced our conservation requirements for marine mammals with their critical national security requirements for training and military readiness,” Timothy Gallaudet, acting undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere at NOAA, said in a statement. “As the acting NOAA administrator and a retired Navy admiral, I know this is a win-win for marine mammal protection and national defense.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service evaluates the predicted effects of human activities on protected marine species under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
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