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Georgia Aquarium Application to Import 18 Beluga Whales (File No. 17324)

Overview


The Georgia Aquarium has maintained beluga whales since opening in 2005.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Skidmore

Timeline

Public comment period closes:
October 29, 2012

Public hearing:
October 12, 2012; 2pm-5pm

Public comment period opened: 
August 30, 2012

Application considered complete: 
July 18, 2012

Application (File No. 17324) submitted: 
June 15, 2012


This beluga whale, currently at the Georgia Aquarium, was born in captivity in 1992.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Skidmore

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) allows for the removal from the wild or importation of marine mammals for the purpose of public display. 

The Georgia Aquarium submitted an application for an MMPA permit on June 15, 2012. This application (File No. 17324) requests authorization to import 18 beluga whales from the Utrish Marine Mammal Research Station in Russia to the United States for the purpose of public display. These animals were previously captured from the Russian Sea of Okhotsk.

The animals would be imported and legally held by the Georgia Aquarium. Some of the animals would be transported to other U.S. partner facilities under breeding loan agreements. These facilities include Sea World of Florida, Sea World of Texas, Sea World of California, and Shedd Aquarium.

Draft Environmental Assessment (EA)

NOAA Fisheries has initially determined that an EA is the appropriate level of analysis to conduct under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for this application. A draft EA has been prepared to assist the agency in making a decision by analyzing the potential draft EA [pdf] for adverse impacts on the species resulting from the importation of these beluga whales. The draft EA is available for review and comment concurrent with the application.

Public Comment Period

NOAA Fisheries’ regulations require that notices of all permit applications be published in the Federal Register for public review and comment for 30 days. Because of increased public interest, this application and the draft EA are being made available for comment for 60 days. The public comment period will be open through October 29, 2012.

Submitting Comments

You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2012-0158, by any of the following methods:

Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by NOAA Fisheries. Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter "N/A" in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

Tips for submitting effective comments [pdf] can also be found on the regulations.gov website.

Public Meeting

NOAA Fisheries will hold a public meeting to inform interested parties of the proposed import and solicit comments on the application and accompanying draft EA. This meeting is accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Jennifer Skidmore, 301-427-8401 (voice) or 301-713-0376 (fax), at least five days before the scheduled meeting date.

The meeting will be held on Friday, October 12, 2012, from 2pm to 5pm at:

NOAA Silver Spring Metro Center Complex
NOAA Science Center
1301 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Available Documents

Beluga Inventory Report Summaries 

Updated: September 19, 2012