Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys in the Gulf of America

What it does

NMFS has received a request for the reimplementation of incidental take regulations (ITR) governing the incidental taking of marine mammals during geophysical survey activity conducted in the Gulf of America (GOA). Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is requesting comments on its proposed rule and will consider public comments relevant to this proposed rule prior to issuing any final rule.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What it would change

1 part of Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

50 CFR 217

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0648-BO19 since Jan. 1, 2025.

Since then:

• April 17, 2026 Final rule. Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Geophysical Surveys in the Gulf of America

What happens next and when

Comments and information must be received no later than March 26, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NOAA-NMFS-2025-0638 on Regulations.gov
• Title 50 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register