Population Assessments

Population assessments provide the foundation for evaluating status of and threats to marine mammals and sea turtles managed by NOAA Fisheries under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Ideally, these assessments include synthesis and analysis of scientific information on a species or stock’s population structure, life history characteristics and vital rates, abundance (both nesting and in-water, in the case of sea turtles), and threats, particularly those caused by human activities.

Production of protected species assessments at regular intervals by NOAA Fisheries is valuable, and often necessary, for informing agency decisions related to a species’ ESA listing status, federal or federally-funded activities that may impact a species or its habitat, acceptable bycatch levels, and scientific research and incidental take permits issued to agencies, scientific and academic institutions, and industry. Additionally, such information is vital to NOAA Fisheries fulfilling its supportive and advisory role in state- and tribal-managed coastal areas and providing scientific and policy leadership and guidance to regional and international bodies such as multi-state marine fishery commissions, U.S. Fishery Management Councils, international fishery management organizations, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology’s marine mammal and sea turtle population assessment activities focus on improving the quality and frequency of assessments, including:

• Administering an internal Marine Turtle Stock Assessment Program , which is designed to support NOAA Fisheries Science Center projects that will improve sea turtle assessments by addressing themes drawn from ESA recovery Plans and 5-year reviews, the 2010 NRC report on sea turtle assessments, and the marine protected species stock assessment implementation plan (SAIP), including data and analysis gaps.
• Guidelines for Marine Mammal Stock Assessments (GAMMS) provide the overarching framework for conducting marine mammal stock assessments within the US EEZ.
• Marine mammal stock assessment reports are published yearly for strategic stocks and every 3 years for other stocks. 

Note: A "Strategic Stock" is defined by the MMPA as a marine mammal stock--

• For which the level of direct human-caused mortality exceeds the potential biological removal level;
• Which, based on the best available scientific information, is declining and is likely to be listed as a threatened species under the ESA within the foreseeable future; or
• Which is listed as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA, or is designated as depleted under the MMPA.

More Information

• NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal and Turtle Surveys
• NOAA Fisheries Marine Turtle Stock Assessment RFP