marine mammal protection

The program is an effort to keep the giant marine mammals safe from boat strikes and noise in the highly used inland waters of Washington state.

50 years ago, President Nixon signed the Marine Mammal Protection Act into law. The act has been hugely successful in restoring the abundance of the marine species it protects. But Washington tribes say their treaty rights to fishing are now under threat because too many seals and sea lions are feasting on endangered salmon.

A long-awaited decision on the Makah tribe’s application to conduct a whale hunt will come within a year, according to federal regulators with NOAA Fisheries who issued a supplemental environmental impact statement on July 1. The supplemental EIS includes a new preferred alternative that the agency is recommending for approval.

A federal official has issued his recommendation regarding the Makah whale hunt. Judge George G. Jordan, administrative law judge with the U.S. Coast Guard, says he recommends granting the waiver the tribe has requested under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Yellow tape is warning people away from the pocket beach near the Olympic Sculpture Park on Seattle’s waterfront. But it’s not a crime scene. The beach…