Brooks Law Digest: Marine Mammal Protection Act

The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it is seeking comments on numerous applications for permits under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Applications include requests for captive bred permits for crocodiles, tortoises, penguins, and other animals; permits to kill “excess” deer and oryx; and permits to import sport-hunted trophies. The agency is accepting comments on these permit applications until June 22, 2020.

Sea Shepherd has filed suit against a variety of federal agencies, alleging that the agencies’ failure to ban imports from certain fisheries in New Zealand that cause harm to endangered dolphins violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it is considering several applications for Endangered Species Act permits. The applications include requests to import a snow leopard to John Ball Zoo in Michigan and to captive breed Arabian oryx and Eld’s deer at a game ranch in Texas. The agency is accepting comments on the applications until May 13, 2020.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced its intent to prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement in response to the Makah Tribe’s request to hunt Gray Whales. The agency is not asking for any additional input to prepare this statement.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it is accepting comments on a number of permit applications it has received under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The applications include requests for permits to import samples of wild and captive ground pangolin to the University of Washington, export one loggerhead sea turtle to Sea Life London Aquarium, captive breed penguins and lemurs in a zoo in Minnesota, to import sport-hunted trophies of a South African antelope, and to import biological samples from wild-caught polar bears to Stanford University Medical Center. The agency is accepting comments on these applications until December 20, 2019.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have announced the final agenda for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge set to take place on November 14. The hearing will address whether the Makah Indian Tribe should be granted a waiver of the Marine Mammal Protection Act moratorium on marine mammal takings to authorize a tribal hunt of gray whales.

The comment period is about to expire for a June application from a group of Northwest organizations seeking a permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to remove (by lethal force) sea lions in the Columbia River. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is accepting comments on this application until October 29, 2019.

The Fish & Wildlife Service is considering an application by Mystic Aquarium to import five beluga whales from Canada to conduct research lasting five years, the maximum under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Comments on this application are due December 22, 2019.

The Empower Rural Economies Through Alaska Native Sustainable Arts and Handicrafts Act would amend the Marine Mammal Protect Act to exempt takings by any Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo if the taking is for purposes of subsistence or creating and selling authentic handicrafts and is not accomplished in a “wasteful manner.”

The Streamlining Environmental Approvals Act proposes to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act to restrict the Secretary’s ability to request further information from applicants, institute automatic approval of permits if the Secretary fails to issue a decision, and allow for auto-extensions of authorizations, among other changes.