


Natural or man-made disasters could result in mass mortalities, injuries or illnesses to marine animal populations; damage to marine habitats; or affect food safety and public health. NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources experts nationwide monitor threats to protected marine species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act.
Natural or man-made disasters could result in mass mortalities, injuries or illnesses to marine animal populations; damage to marine habitats; or affect food safety and public health.
NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources experts nationwide continuously monitor threats to marine species protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. They oversee and coordinate a large volunteer response network along the coastal states and U.S. territories, positioning them to detect, respond to, and investigate disaster events threatening marine animals. Investigating these events gives us important information on the health of our oceans and coasts, including populations of important marine species.
Our programs employ scalable and tailored incident command structures during national, regional, or local emergencies. We operate with interagency coordination, typically under Emergency Support Functions #10 (Oil and HAZMAT Response) and #11 (Agriculture and Natural Resources).
Natural disasters increase risks to marine animals and require coordinated emergency response by NOAA Fisheries teams into the overall response. Some examples include:
Mitigation or prevention of human-caused injuries following a man-made disaster can help safeguard marine species. Some examples of these disasters include: