Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to U.S. Navy Operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar in the Western and Central North Pacific Ocean and Eastern Indian Ocean
Key claim: NMFS is issuing seven-year MMPA regulations (August 2026–August 2033) authorizing the U.S. Navy to incidentally take marine mammals during SURTASS LFA sonar training and testing in the western and central North Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans, with prescribed mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements.
Abstract
(Rule · Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy), issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to training and testing activities using Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar systems in the western and central North Pacific and eastern Indian oceans over the course of 7 years from August 2026 through August 2033. These regulations allow for the issuance of a letter of authorization (LOA) for the incidental take of marine mammals during specified activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. The Navy’s activities are considered military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (2004 NDAA) and the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2019 (2019 NDAA).
Why this matters
The SURTASS LFA authorization continues a long-standing framework under which the Navy’s low-frequency active sonar training and testing—critical to anti-submarine warfare readiness in the Indo-Pacific—operates under MMPA incidental-take rules rather than being constrained by marine mammal protections. The seven-year term locks in operational predictability for a key ASW capability while imposing recurring mitigation and monitoring costs on the Navy. Renewal signals ongoing Navy prioritization of undersea surveillance in contested Pacific and Indian Ocean waters.