**GAO-09-78**                      Published: Dec 08, 2008. Publicly Released: Jan 07, 2009.                  

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## Highlights

Because marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, often inhabit waters where commercial fishing occurs, they can become entangled in fishing gear, which may injure or kill them--this is referred to as "incidental take." The 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) require the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to establish take reduction teams for certain marine mammals to develop measures to reduce their incidental takes. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which NMFS (1) can accurately identify the marine mammal stocks--generally a population of animals of the same species located in a common area--that meet the MMPA's requirements for establishing such teams, (2) has established teams for those stocks that meet the requirements, (3) has met the MMPA's deadlines for the teams subject to them, and (4) evaluates the effectiveness of take reduction regulations. GAO reviewed the MMPA, and NMFS data on marine mammals, and take reduction team documents and obtained the views of NMFS officials, scientists, and take reduction team members.

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## Topics

Natural Resources and Environment

Conservation complianceConservation programsData collectionData integrityFederal regulationsFishery legislationFishesFishing industryMarine mammalsMarine resourcesMortalityNoncomplianceProgram evaluationProgram managementRegulationReporting requirementsSpeciesStatistical dataStrategic planningVoluntary complianceWildlife conservationProgram goals or objectivesProgram implementation