Biological Opinions (ESA Section 7)

Overview
Biological opinions document NMFS' opinion as to whether a Federal action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of an ESA-listed species, or result in the destruction or adverse modification of species' critical habitat.

Opinions Issued
In the Headquarters office, NMFS consults on two general types of Federal Agency actions:

actions that are large in scale, such as
- nationwide, or programmatic, consultations - actions that address a Federal Agency's entire program, rather than each specific action
- incidental harassment - actions that have a large acoustic footprint and may result in incidental harassment
directed take of ESA-listed species for scientific research - actions that result in directed take of our listed species

Regional Offices consult on smaller-scale projects; those Opinions can be found on the regional offices web pages (see below).

Nationwide Consultations

Proposal to Issue Permit 16598 to Inwater Research Group for Research on Sea Turtles
(July 3, 2012)
Registration of thiobencarb to EPA
(July 2, 2012)
U.S. Coast Guard's National Ballast Water Management Program
(June 20, 2012)
Issuance of Batched Permits 15569, 16111, 16160, and 16163
(June 4, 2012)
Proposal to Issue Permit 15802 to Gregg Poulakis for Research on Smalltooth Sawfish
(June 1, 2012)
Registration of three dinitroaniline herbicides to EPA
(May 31, 2012)
Proposal to Issue Permit 16473 to Ann Pabst for Whale Survey
(May 30, 2012)
Proposal to Issue Permit 15420 to NMFS PIFSC for Research on 27 Cetacean Species
(May 15, 2012)
Proposal to Issue Permit 16306 for Research on Shortnose Sturgeon
(May 11, 2012)
Proposal to Issue Permit 15566-01 to the SCDNR to Authorize Research on Sea Turtles
(May 3, 2012)
Permits 15575 and 16109 for research on marine mammals and sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean from MA to NC
(May 1, 2012)
Permit 14118 to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for Cetacean Research in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
(April 27, 2012)
Permit 15634 to NMFS SWFSC for leatherback sea turtle research off the coasts of CA, WA, and OR
(April 13, 2012)
Proposal to Issue Permit 14534-02 to NMFS to Conduct Research on Humpback Whales
(April 6, 2012)
Permits (multiple) for Atlantic Sturgeon Research
(April 2, 2012)
Permit 15672 to Molly Lutcavage for research on leatherback sea turtles off the New England coast in the Atlantic Ocean
(March 7, 2012)
Permit 15844 to Susan Boudreau for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
(February 23, 2012)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Nationwide Permit Program
(February 15, 2012)
U.S. Forest Service: Aerial Application of Long-term Fire Retardants on all U.S. Forest Service Lands
(November 7, 2011)
EPA's Issuance of the Office of Water's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, Pesticides General Permit under the Clean Water Act for DC, ID, MA, and NH; Federal lands in DE, VT, and WA; and Indian lands nationwide
(October 14, 2011)
EPA: Office of Water Pesticides General Permit [pdf]
(October 14, 2011)
EPA: Pesticide Biological Opinions
- Archive of EPA Pesticide Opinions (2008-present)

Incidental Harassment Authorizations

Cascadia Thrust Zone northern area and Cascadia Subduction Zone seismic survey
(July 10, 2012)
L-DEO Seismic Survey in the Northeast Pacific Ocean: Cascadia Thrust Zone southern survey area
(June 27, 2012)
L-DEO Seismic Survey in the Northeast Pacific Ocean: Juan de Fuca Plate study area
(June 13, 2012)
Proposal to Issue IHA for South America Seismic Survey by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
(May 2, 2012)
Issuance of IHA Seismic Survey by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation Over the Shatsky Rise
(March 23, 2012)
Issuance of IHA Seismic Survey by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation off the Marianas Islands
(February 1, 2012)
Navy HRC LOA 2012-2014: U.S. Navy training exercises in the Hawaii Range Complex
(January 10, 2012)
Navy SOCAL LOA 2012-2014: U.S. Navy Training in the Southern California Training Range
(January 9, 2012)
Navy AFAST LOA 2012-2014: U.S. Navy active sonar training along the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico
(December 19, 2011)
LDEO IHA for Marine Seismic Survey in the Central Pacific Ocean
(November 23, 2011)
Scripps Institute of Oceanography IHA for seismic survey in western tropical North Pacific
(October 31, 2011)

Scientific Research on ESA-Listed Species

Permit 15672 to Molly Lutcavage for research on leatherback sea turtles off the New England coast in the Atlantic Ocean
(March 7, 2012)
Permit 15844 to Susan Boudreau for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
(February 23, 2012)
Permits 15661 and 15685 and Modification to Permit 10027-04 on sea turtles in nearshore habitats off the Northern Mariana Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, and Palmyra Atoll
(January 18, 2012)
Permit 16253 to Bonnie Ponwith, SEFSC
(January 9, 2012)
Permit 16194 to Bonnie Ponwith, SEFSC
(December 22, 2011)
Permit 15682 to research humpback whales in Puerto Rico
(December 16, 2011)
Permit 16146 for Research on the Biology, Distribution, and Abundance of Sea Turtles at Buck Island Reef National Monument, USVI
(December 15, 2011)
Permit 10022-02 Modification for sea turtles in the coastal bays of Northwest Florida
(December 7, 2011)
Permit 781-1824-02 Amendment for Brad Hanson, NWFSC
(November 22, 2011)
Permit 16439 to evaluate shortnose sturgeon populations in the Hudson River
(November 21, 2011)
Permit 15750 to ABR, Inc., for marine mammal research in Alaska
(November 15, 2011)
Permit 15274 to Dan Salden for research on humpback whales and Hawaiian insular false killer whales in Hawaii and Southeast Alaska
(November 8, 2011)
Permit 16174 to Michael Salmon for juvenile green sea turtles research in Florida
(November 8, 2011)

Region-Specific Biological Opinions

For More Information

Updated: August 23, 2012