Prohibition on the Intentional Lethal Take of Marine Mammals in Commercial Fishing Operations

The Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1994 established in section 118 a new management regime for the taking of marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing operations. Among other things, section 118 prohibits the intentional lethal taking of marine mammals in the course of commercial fishing operations. In partial implementation of section 118, NMFS amends the interim exemption currently in effect under section 114 to make the prohibition on intentional lethal takings fully applicable to all commercial fishing operations. All other provisions of the interim exemption remain in effect until superseded by further regulations.