 |
|
|
 |
|
Policy and Management
 | | Channel Islands sanctuary advisory council discusses ship strikes at a meeting. (Photo: R. Young/NOAA) |
All whales are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and blue, humpback, fin and sperm whales are also listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has regulatory responsibility for implementing these laws. Whales in a national marine sanctuary are also protected under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act through the prohibition of take (to harass, hunt, capture, or kill) of any marine mammal, sea turtle, or seabird within or above the sanctuary, except as authorized by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Due to this shared legal responsibility, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and NMFS work collaboratively on a number of actions to advance NOAA's broad objectives. Both agencies also work independently on individual program goals.
Sanctuaries along the west coast, particularly the four sanctuaries in California, have undertaken the following policy and management actions to protect whales from ship strike:
Community involvement:
- Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary Advisory Councils facilitated a joint working group on vessel strikes and acoustic impacts to provide recommendations to the site superintendents on preferred research, education, and policy actions to protect whales in sanctuary waters of the central California coast. This working group was created in January 2011 and provided its recommendations to the superintendents in June 2012. The recommendations are available under "Reports and Documents".
- Channel Islands Sanctuary Advisory Council convened a subcommittee in 2009 to develop recommendations for the Sanctuary Superintendent to reduce the threat of ship strikes in the Santa Barbara Channel. This report is available under "Reports and Documents".
 | | Cordell Bank & Gulf of the Farallones joint working group on vessel strikes and acoustic impacts. (Photo: S. Hutto/NOAA) |
Seasonal Whale Advisories:
The West Coast Region sanctuaries continue to work with staff from NMFS, U.S. Coast Guard and National Weather Service to provide seasonal notices and whale advisory zone chartlets to mariners when large whales have returned to the Channel Islands area and the entrance to San Francisco Bay, including Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank (chartlet and regional notices provided here).
Shipping Lane Shifts:
One of the most effective ways to reduce ship strikes is to reduce the co-occurrence of ships and whales. West Coast sanctuaries have worked with the Coast Guard to make recommendations to shift shipping lanes away from known areas of high whale aggregations.
- Channel Islands sanctuary has engaged with and provided data to the Coast Guard since 2010 throughout the Port Access Route Study (PARS) of the approach to the Los Angeles/Long Beach Port. This process resulted in the submission of a formal proposal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to narrow the width of the shipping separation lane by one mile. This shift would move the southbound lane one mile north and further away from a high seasonal aggregation area for blue whales. See the figure below for the proposed lane changes.
- Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones sanctuaries have engaged with, and provided data to, the Coast Guard since 2010 throughout the Port Access Route Study (PARS) for the approach to San Francisco Bay. This process resulted in the submission of a formal proposal to the IMO to extend the northern, western and southern lanes and narrow the northern and western lanes in the approach to San Francisco Bay. The northern approach will be lengthened 16.7 nautical miles, which will keep vessels on a predictable path in prime fishing areas and avoid the Area of Special Biological Significance at Point Reyes. Additionally, a turn in the northern lane will keep vessels away from Cordell Bank, a destination feeding ground for whales. The western approach will be extended approximately 6 nautical miles, which will keep vessels on a direct course over the edge of the continental shelf limiting the area of the shelf that is impacted by shipping traffic. See the figure below for the proposed lane changes.
- The Safety of Navigation subcommittee of the IMO approved the amendments of both proposals in early July 2012 and recommended to the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) that the amendments be adopted. The MSC adopted the amendments in November 2012, and the Coast Guard now plans to go through the federal rulemaking process sometime in 2013 before the shipping lane adjustments can be implemented.
- Monterey Bay sanctuary worked with the Coast Guard from 1997 to 2000 to successfully relocate the IMO's recommended shipping lanes through Monterey Bay further offshore to maximize protection of the sanctuary resources while allowing for the continuation of vessel transport along the California coast. In addition, a series of recommended routes were identified and subsequently approved by the International Maritime Organization.
 | | Blue whale sightings and the proposed shipping lane shift in the Santa Barbara Channel. Click on the map for a larger view. |
 | Blue and Humpback whale sightings from ACCESS  , with the proposed shipping lane shifts in the approach to San Francisco Bay. Click on the map for a larger view. |
|
|
|
|
