The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to issue a permit for a period of three years to authorize the incidental, but not intentional, taking of individuals from the central North Pacific (CNP) stock of endangered humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) by the Hawaii-based longline fisheries, both deep-set and shallow-set.
In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS has made a preliminary determination incidental taking from commercial fishing will have a negligible impact on CNP humpback whales, the agency said in a Federal Register announcement.
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