Good afternoon MARMAM,

NOAA Fisheries announces the availability of its final Procedural Directive clarifying the process for eligible permit applicants to obtain releasable marine mammals for public display purposes under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). 

NOAA Fisheries will no longer accept applications for MMPA section 104 permits that specifically seek to obtain releasable rehabilitated marine mammals from the stranding network for public display.  NOAA Fisheries will instead require prospective applicants to apply for a permit authorizing actual take (collection) from the wild.  In the event NOAA Fisheries grants a permit for take from the wild, the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resource’s Director may then, at his or her discretion, require that a releasable rehabilitated marine mammal be substituted for the authorized capture from the wild, in accordance with NOAA Fisheries regulations at 50 CFR 216.27.  This Procedural Directive will better align the statutory requirements under MMPA section 104 with the regulatory provisions.

The procedural directive is available on our NOAA Fisheries website.

On November 15, 2017, NOAA Fisheries published the draft national Procedure for Permit Applications to Retain Releasable Rehabilitated Marine Mammals for Public Display for a 30-day public comment period (82 FR 52880).  Comments received are available on regulations.gov.  Substantive and relevant comments and NOAA Fisheries’ responses are available in the Federal Register notice.