Strategic Plan for Conducting Large Geographic Scale, Ship-Based Surveys to Support the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts

Download or read book Strategic Plan for Conducting Large Geographic Scale, Ship-Based Surveys to Support the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts written by Ballance, Lisa T. and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2017 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The motivation for this strategic plan is to provide a national, unified approach for meeting science needs in partial support of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The specific objective is to provide a framework for discussion of ship time with respect to, chiefly, cetacean science needs. The plan presented here is meant to aid in strategic planning for these science requirements in the context of other National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) priorities and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Healthy Ocean Goal. In particular, it is hoped that a proactive and comprehensive strategic plan based on a predictable schedule and geographic area rotation will facilitate the continuation, and in some cases, the initial implementation of, research that will provide the majority of data required to meet NMFS’ cetacean-related mandates. Related items: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) publications can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration-noaa