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Marine Sanctuaries - America

This document provides technical guidance for assessing the effects of underwater anthropogenic (human-made) sound on the hearing of marine mammal species under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and was completed in collaboration with the National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Specifically, it identifies the received levels, or acoustic thresholds, at which individual marine mammals are predicted to experience changes in their hearing sensitivity (either temporary or permanent) for acute, incidental exposure to underwater anthropogenic sound sources. This is the first time NMFS has presented this information in a single, comprehensive document. This Technical Guidance is intended for use by NMFS analysts/managers and other relevant action proponents/stakeholders, including other federal agencies, when seeking to determine whether and how their activities are expected to result in potential impacts to marine mammal hearing via acoustic exposure. This document outlines the development of NMFS’ acoustic thresholds and describes how they will be updated in the future.

This is a literature review compiled by the National Marines Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) Protected Resources Division (PRD) to facilitate better understanding of green turtle nesting distribution in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean, including a summary of legal protections for sea turtles throughout the region. This synthesis of 189 Pacific green turtle nesting locations, nesting assemblage characteristics where available, and current national legislation provides the background information necessary to identify where gaps exist in monitoring and management. This will help NMFS (or other relevant stakeholders) prioritize and direct future research, management activities, and international collaborations to advance green turtle conservation and recovery efforts in the Pacific.

This report documents the results from a workshop that examined the issue of incidental capture of threatened and endangered sea turtles by pelagic longline fisheries. It is a compilation of formal presentations by, and facilitated discussions among, government and nongovernment scientists, resource managers, and fishing industry representatives. This report documents the preliminary results and has not undergone external scientific review. The interpretation of the information presented at the workshop represent the opinions and views of the participants and not necessarily those of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA.