Reporting systems for cetacean injuries/mortality/strandings

The MMPA was amended in 1992 to formally establish the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) to:

Facilitate collection and dissemination of reference data on the health of marine mammals and to assess health trends of marine mammal populations in the wild; Correlate marine mammal health with available data on physical, chemical, and biological environmental parameters; and Coordinate effective responses to unusual mortality events (UMEs).

The MMHSRP has several components including:

All U.S. fishing vessel owners or operators must report all incidental mortalities and injuries of marine mammals that occur during commercial fishing operations under the Marine Mammal Authorization Program. In addition, NMFS’s Regional Fishery Observer Programs, Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, and Large Whale Entanglement Response Programs document and report marine mammal mortalities and injuries incidental to commercial fishing operations.

The Department of Conservation (DOC), often in association with local Maori, has the statutory responsibility for managing cetacean stranding events, and maintains a comprehensive coverage of the New Zealand coastline through its area offices, field centres and local networks.

The National Stranding Network coordinated by ICMBio has been working along the Brazilian coast to evaluate cetacean stranding rates and cumulative effects of anthropogenic activities on these animals. A national database was developed to store the collected information providing the possibility to integrate data (in terms of space and time) and improve the evaluation of threats, as well as support both conservation planning and management actions.