Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project in Washington
Key claim: NOAA Fisheries has issued a final rule allowing the Army Corps of Engineers to incidentally take marine mammals while restoring the Duckabush Estuary in Washington’s Hood Canal from 2027 through 2032, subject to work limits, monitoring, and reporting.
Abstract
(Rule · Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issues this final rule pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project (DERP) in Hood Canal, Washington over 5 years (2027-2032). This final rule, which allows for the issuance of a 5-year letter of authorization (LOA) allowing for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and timeframes, prescribes the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and establishes requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking.
Why this matters
MMPA incidental take rules balance ecosystem restoration against short-term acoustic and physical disturbance to protected marine mammals. This authorization illustrates how large Army Corps estuary restoration projects proceed under NMFS mitigation, monitoring, and reporting conditions rather than being blocked by MMPA prohibitions.