The MMPA: A Defining Moment
The U.S. Navy wants to amend the definition of "harassment" in the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which is currently under review for reauthorization by the House Resources Committee. The Navy's proposed language might seem harmless, a word added here or a phrase added there, but the overall effect, if accepted, could be deadly to many more whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals.
The Department of Defense, which includes the Navy, wants to alter the section of the MMPA that deals with harassment to marine mammals from military readiness exercises. The proposed language would define one level of harassment as those instances when military activities would "injure or [have] the significant potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild...." The current language defines this level of harassment as when the activity simply "has the potential to injure," a definition that is appropriately precautionary, given our level of ignorance about the biology of marine mammals.
Likewise, the DOD wants to change a lesser level of harassment from "disturb or [has the] potential to disturb" to "disturb or is likely to disturb a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of natural behavior patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, surfacing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering to a point where such behavioral patterns are abandoned or significantly altered...."
As Andrew E. Wetzler, senior project attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the House Resources Committee on June 13, 2002, "Regardless of what the Defense Department may claim, adding the term 'significant' to the definition would not make it more 'scientific'; on the contrary, it would take the Act into a scientific and policy arena that is beset by ambiguity.... Currently, the state of marine mammal science will not yield a practical definition of 'significant potential' or of 'significantly altered'; indeed, these terms are likely to generate more scientific questions than answers."
"The same is true of the term 'abandonment,'" added Wetzler, who was representing 15 different organizations, including The HSUS. "Even a temporary abandonment of a nursing bout between an endangered right whale mother and its calf is likely to have more serious consequences than the temporary abandonment of a swimming path by a gray whale—but it is unclear whether either event would count as 'abandonment' under the DOD's analysis."
The practical outcome of changing the "harassment" definition is that many more marine mammals would be affected by military activities than currently are. Potentially harmful activities that were once evaluated, monitored, and mitigated under the MMPA would no longer come under the permit process.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency in charge of implementing and enforcing the MMPA, would be unable to ensure that an activity's impact on marine mammals would be negligible, and the risk that harmful impacts will occur would substantially increase. The benefits of mitigation and monitoring—which have been effective in protecting marine mammal populations while gathering critical information on biological effects—would disappear under the Navy's definition.
Despite these ominous forecasts, the House Resources Committee Chairman appears set on giving the Navy what it wants. The Chairman, Jim Hansen (R-Utah), has virtually promised that he would exempt the U.S. Navy from the provisions of the MMPA.
The MMPA will probably be amended and voted on by the House Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans Subcommittee in July. It will then be considered by Chairman Hansen's full Resources Committee. Only concerted public opposition will block the Navy's attempt to torpedo the MMPA.
What You Can Do
Contact members of the House Resources Committee, especially if you are represented by one of them. Because the Republicans have a majority in the House, it is especially important to convince Republican members of this committee not to weaken the MMPA.
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