Overview
NOAA Fisheries offers local expertise and technical assistance and guidance to Unified Command Centers regarding our trust resources. Depending upon the location and nature of a disaster event, agency employees may staff the Command Post, or otherwise support wildlife response, shoreline cleanup and assessment technique operations, and other field activities as assigned. Our ICP services may include:
- Coordinating reconnaissance for protected resources.
- Receiving reports of oiled, injured or distressed marine mammals and sea turtles through the wildlife reporting hotline (if activated), and relaying information to network responders in the field.
- Activating and coordinating personnel, equipment, transportation, and material response resources through the Command Post.
- Coordinating de-oiling and rehabilitation of affected marine mammals and sea turtles.
- Coordinating necropsy and sampling protocols.
- Considering and implementing hazing options.
- Working with the Environmental Unit to implement best management practices.
- Facilitating ephemeral data collection for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment team.
- Reporting out numbers of affected animals.
- Facilitating contact between NOAA Fisheries public information officers and the Joint Information Center on issues related to our trust resources.
The nature and duration of services provided will depend on the services requested by the ICP, the type and scope of event, and the availability of staff resources.
More Information
Oceanic whitetip shark. Hawaiʻi longline fishermen use leaders to connect weighed branch lines and baited hooks. A new rule prohibits steel wire leaders in the Hawaiʻi deep-set longline fishery, starting May 31, 2022. The rule aims to increase the survival of hooked oceanic whitetip sharks caught as bycatch in the Pacific Islands region. Credit: Andy Mann
Right whale #3853 swimming north offshore of South Carolina on Jan. 20, 2011 with a series of fresh propeller wounds running across its back. The whale was observed 5 days previously offshore of Georgia without propeller wounds. It is unknown whether the whale survived its wounds or not, as it has not been re-sighted since. Vessel collisions are a leading cause of right whale mortality. Credit: EcoHealth Alliance (NOAA permit #594-1759).
North Atlantic right whale Catalog #3560 ‘Snow Cone’ sighted December 2, 2021 entangled and with a new calf. Photo credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission taken under NOAA permit 20556.
Barotrauma expands gasses in a fish causing the air bladder and other organs to expand as well, making it difficult for fish to swim after release. Credit: NOAA Fisheries, Florida SeaGrant