NOAA Fisheries: Office of Protected Resources
Acropora palmata thicket on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Andy Bruckner, 1996 Coho salmon painting, Canadian Dept of Fisheries and Oceans Monk seal, C.E. Bowlby Humpback whale, Dr. Lou Herman
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Welcome to the Office of Protected Resources

The Office of Protected Resources (OPR) is a headquarters program office of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries Service, or NMFS), under the U.S. Department of Commerce, with responsibility for protecting marine mammals and endangered marine life.

NOAA's Office of Protected Resources works to conserve, protect, and recover species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in conjunction with our Regional Offices, Science Centers, and various partners.


Recent News and Hot Topics

01/06/2012   2012 Annual Determination for Sea Turtle Observer Requirement

12/31/2011   Updated data on dolphin/ whale (Cetacean) unusual mortality event in Northern Gulf of Mexico

12/22/2011   NOAA releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean, open for comment through 02/13/2012

12/20/2011   NOAA declares death of ringed seals in Northern Alaska an Unusual Mortality Event

12/20/2011   Investigators find Influenza A H3N8 in five seals during Northeast Pinniped Unusual Mortality Event response

12/15/2011   NMFS Publishes Final Recovery Plan for Sei Whale

12/08/2011   Draft Policy on Interpretation of the Phrase "Significant Portion of Its Range" in the ESA

12/07/2011   Updated data on increase in sea turtle strandings in the Gulf of Mexico

11/29/2011   2012 List of Fisheries with Marine Mammal Interactions

» Hot Topics Archive




Sei Whale
Sei Whale

(Balaenoptera borealis)
Photo: NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center


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