For about 1 penny per American per year, the Marine Mammal Commission has met its Congressional mandate to conserve marine mammals for over 40 years.
We work to ensure that marine mammal populations are restored and maintained as functioning elements of healthy marine ecosystems in the world's oceans.
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The Commission's 2020 Annual Meeting:
New Orleans, Louisiana
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The meeting will focus on marine mammal issues in the Gulf of Mexico (photo by J. Cotton).
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Mark your calendars and save the date to attend the
Marine Mammal Commission’s Annual Meeting of 2020
on April 28th through the 30
th
at the InterContinental Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Each year, the Marine Mammal Commission holds its annual meeting in a different region of the country to examine regional issues, as well as priority topics at the national and global levels.
At our annual meeting, which is open to the public in person and online, we will engage with other federal agencies, stakeholders, and interested members of the public on the science, policy, and management issues related to the Gulf of Mexico. More details on the agenda and meeting venue will be available soon on our website, so stay tuned or email staff with questions!
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Commission Weighs in on
Southern Resident Killer Whale Conservation
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Photo by
Holly Fearnbach, NOAA.
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The gradual decline of the
Southern Resident killer whale
(SRKW) population is of great concern to the Commission and the agency remains committed to protecting and conserving this iconic species. Recently, the Commission commented on two federal actions relating to the SRKW, one of which proposed revisions and expansions to their critical h
abitat. In general, "the Commission emphasizes its support for the geographic boundaries proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for the six coastal critical habitat areas and reiterates that prey quantity, quality, and availability remain the highest priority for conservation of SRKWs." We support the proposed critical habitat revisions but ask NMFS to consider "the explicit inclusion of anthropogenic sound in the proposed essential features or the recognition of sound as a fourth essential feature in the critical habitat designation."
See below to read the Commission’s recent comment letters on SRKWs:
Furthermore, the Commission is pleased to see Congressional appropriators continue funding NMFS’s work on SRKWs in the
FY2020 report language (bottom of page 14).
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A Year in Review: the Commission's 2019 Annual Report
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The Marine Mammal Commission is proud to release our
2019 Annual Report, highlighting some of our work and accomplishments in the previous calendar year. The Commission has published this yearly report to Congress since its inception in 1974. Within this edition, you will find information on our work to provide legal and policy oversight, engage local communities and stakeholders on marine mammal issues, and more. This annual report was designed primarily for electronic distribution and use, directing the reader to relevant sections of our website for additional information. To view Annual Reports from previous years,
visit our website.
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Rampant Illegal Fishing Threatens Remaining Vaquitas
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Rampant illegal fishing continues in the vaquita range in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico, with no reduction of the threat of entanglement to the few animals that remain. At the start of the fishing season in fall 2019 the Mexican government announced it would not provide compensation to fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by the prohibition of fishing for shrimp and finfish with gillnets in the upper Gulf. Facing economic hardship, many of these fishermen returned to the water to fish with gillnets for shrimp without authorization. At the same time the illegal totoaba fishery continues unchecked.
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A pair of vaquita in Northern Gulf of California (photo by Thomas A. Jefferson).
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The high level of unregulated fishing activity, including in the Zero Tolerance Area, hampered the acoustic monitoring of the vaquita population that has been conducted every summer since 2011 and led to the loss of 61 moorings and acoustic detectors between June and December 2019. This reduced sampling days by 45% and made it impossible to monitor 12 sites. The estimated total population decline between 2011 and 2018 is 99% and is continuing. Following VaquitaCPR in 2017, photo-identification capture-recapture efforts were initiated to document the minimum number of animals and help estimate life history parameters. Following a 2018 effort (Taylor et al. 2019), two photo identification expeditions were undertaken in September and October 2019. There were seven vaquita sightings, including distinct mother and calf pairs. All vaquitas appeared healthy and were seen within the Zero Tolerance Area where the effort was focused. Data analysis is underway for both the acoustic and photo-id efforts. To learn about new conservation efforts to develop alternative fishing gear and the sequencing of the vaquita genome, go to the “More” tab at
www.mmc.gov/vaquita
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A Mediterranean monk seal offshore of Madeira, Portugal (© Nuno Sá, Wild Wonders of Europe).
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The
Rare Pinniped Conservation Network (RAPCON) was launched with an inaugural meeting at the 2nd World Marine Mammal Science Conference in Barcelona in December 2019. RAPCON’s purpose is to foster collaboration among individuals working to conserve rare pinniped populations in different regions around the world. Anthropogenic and natural threats can wreak profound, negative population-level impacts on small pinniped populations. Many of these seal populations are the subject of recovery and research efforts by teams of devoted conservationists who often employ clever and innovative research and conservation approaches. Several of these programs have achieved a great deal for their respective subject species and RAPCON seeks to increase communication and collaboration among them to boost the effectiveness of conservation efforts for each individual population. The Marine Mammal Commission facilitated the formation of RAPCON and is providing leadership and organizational support. For more information visit
www.mmc.gov/rapcon
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Strong Commission Representation at WMMC19
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Some Marine Mammal Commission staff and Commissioner Boness at the Commission's Exhibit Booth
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In December 2019, the Society for Marine Mammalogy and the European Cetacean Society hosted the
World Marine Mammal Science Conference
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in Barcelona, at which the latest advances in all areas of marine mammal research and conservation were presented and discussed in front of more than 2700 participants. In addition to leading two workshops and participating in several more, engagement of Commissioners, Scientific Advisors, and staff included serving as Co-Chair of the Scientific Program Committee (Commissioner Gulland), moderating a plenary session on “Conservation Interventions” (Wells), ten oral and poster presentations, and staffing an exhibition booth. Check out the topics of the aforementioned workshops, talks and posters below:
Workshops
- Harmonizing Global Strandings Response – Co-Chairs Frances Gulland and Karen Stockin (International Whaling Commission)
- Rare Pinniped Conservation Network (RAPCON) – Co-Chairs Jason Baker and Sam Simmons
Talks and Posters (Lead Authored by Commission Affiliated Scientists)
- The perils of relying on handling techniques to reduce bycatch in a partially observed fishery: A fatal flaw in the U.S. false killer whale take reduction plan. – Robin Baird
- Using nonlinear signal processing to identify North Pacific Right Whale sounds and measure calling depths in the Bering Sea. – Aaron Thode and co-authors
- Bottlenose dolphins and red tide harmful algal blooms: Are patterns of dolphin responses emerging from repeated events? – Randall Wells and co-authors
- Population-level impacts of natural and anthropogenic causes of death in Main Hawaiian Islands monk seals. – Jason Baker and co-authors
- Marine mammals, sound and the Global Ocean Observing System: Implementing a globally sustained observing system for these essential ocean variables. – Sam Simmons and co-authors
- Skeletal injuries provide insight into the cryptic lives of beaked whales. – Dee Allen and co-authors
- Connecting Conservation Policy and Marine Mammal Science: A Survey of Attitudes and Trends in Publications. – Roxanne Carini, Brady O’Donnell, Vicki Cornish, and coauthors
- Co-management of Marine Mammals in Alaska: A Case-Study Based Review. - Vicki Cornish and Jenna Malek
- Participatory science and directed survey methods: A case study with odontocetes in the Maui Nui region of the Hawaiian Islands. – Merra Howe, Robin Baird, and co-authors
- Eliminating risk of entanglement in fishing trap lines for large whales: ‘ropeless’ gear. – Peter Thomas, Dennis Heinemann, and Tim Werner (New England Aquarium)
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Marine Mammal Commission scientific advisors, staff, and science in the news
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Below are a few recent media highlights that reflect some of the ongoing scientific research, collaborations, and accomplishments of our world-renowned marine mammal scientists. For a reminder about our Commissioners, Committee of Scientific Advisors, and Staff, visit our
website.
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Fishermen embark with gillnets known to entangle vaquitas in San Felipe, Mexico (photo by Peter O. Thomas).
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