Hello MARMAM,

NOAA Fisheries is accepting comments through December 15, 2017 on a draft procedural directive that would require applicants who want to obtain a releasable rehabilitated marine mammal for public display purposes to first apply for a permit to take (i.e., collect) animals from the wild under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In the event NMFS would decide to grant such a permit, the NMFS OPR Director may then, at his or her discretion, require that a releasable rehabilitated marine mammal be substituted for capturing an animal from the wild, in accordance with 50 CFR 216.27.

The draft procedural directive is available on our NOAA Fisheries website.

Comments can be submitted two ways through December 15, 2017:

1)      Through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0096

2)   By mail - Send comments to: Chief, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226, Attn: Releasable Rehabilitated Marine Mammal Procedural Directive.