EXPERT PANEL REVIEW OF MONITORING AND MITIGATION PROTOCOLS IN APPLICATIONS FOR INCIDENTAL TAKE AUTHORIZATIONS RELATED TO OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, INCLUDING SEISMIC SURVEYS, IN THE CHUKCHI AND BEAUFORT SEAS

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Chukchi
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.174.2718; http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/permits/openwater/panel2010.pdf

purpose of the meeting (the latest in a series of such meetings) was to review various oil and gas activities, including seismic surveys, site clearance/shallow hazard surveys, and exploratory drilling, with a focus on their potential effects on marine ecosystems in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Much of the meeting focused on analyses of past exploration, monitoring, and research activities, as well as descriptions of proposed 2010 activities by Shell, ConocoPhillips, British Petroleum (BP), and Statoil, as well as ION and TGS, two companies that specialize in seismic surveys. At the time of the meeting, the Service had received six applications for incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) to take marine mammals incidentally under provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and applicable regulations. For each of these applications, the Service must make a determination as to whether the proposed activities will have (1) more than a negligible impact on the pertinent protected species or stock, or (2) an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of such species or stock for subsistence hunting. The Service also must prescribe regulations establishing permissible means of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact, as well as monitoring and reporting requirements. The Marine Mammal Protection Act defines ―take ‖ to mean ―to harass, hunt, capture