Biological and Conference Opinion on the Issuance of Permit No. 20465 to NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center Marine Mammal Laboratory for Research on Cetaceans
May 10, 2017
NOAA Fisheries' biological opinion considering proposed Permit No. 20465, a renewal of the Marine Mammal Laboratory's most recent Permit No. 14245.
The Marine Mammal Laboratory has been conducting research on cetaceans since at least 1974, and has held numerous scientific research permits for both ESA-listed and non-ESA-listed cetaceans (e.g., held ESA cetacean Permit Nos. P77163 #791 [1992–1997], P77170 #925 [1994–1999], 0782-1438 [1998–2004], 782-1719 [2004–2011], and 14245 [2011–2017]). In fact, the proposed Permit No. 20465 being considered in this opinion is a renewal of MML’s most recent Permit No. 14245.