Marine Mammal Protection Act

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA or Act) prohibits, with certain exceptions, the "take" of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas, and the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S. The MMPA gives the Secretary of Commerce, working through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service, authority and duties under the Act for all Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and Pinnipeds (seals and sea lions, except walruses), and gives authority for other species of marine mammals to the Secretary of the Interior, working through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Secretaries are also required to prepare and periodically revise stock assessments of marine mammal stocks (section 117). In addition, the Secretary of Commerce must publish in the Federal Register and revise at least annually a list of commercial fisheries that categorizes the fisheries based on the incidence of serious injury and mortality of marine mammals (section 118(c)).

Source: https://www.fws.gov/le/USStatutes/MMPA.pdf
Date enacted: October 21, 1972
Codification: 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1361 et seq.
Authority: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service