Editing Marine mammal (section)

===Protection===
[[File:International Whaling Commission members.svg|thumb|Signatory countries of the [[International Whaling Commission]] (IWC)]]
The [[Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972]] (MMPA) was passed on October 21, 1972, under president [[Richard Nixon]]<ref>{{cite book|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=qDXsaOSXRpsC|page=147}}|first=Etienne|last=Benson|year=2010|title= Wired Wilderness: Technologies of Tracking and the Making of Modern Wildlife|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|page=147|isbn=978-0-8018-9710-8|oclc=502874368}}</ref> to prevent the further depletion and possible extinction of marine mammal stocks.<ref name=mmpa72/>{{rp|5}} It prohibits the taking ("the act of hunting, killing, capture, and/or harassment of any marine mammal; or, the attempt at such") of any marine mammal without a permit issued by the Secretary.<ref name=mmpa72/>{{rp|10}} Authority to manage the MMPA was divided between the Secretary of the Interior through the [[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] (Service), and the [[Secretary of Commerce]], which is delegated to the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA). The [[Marine Mammal Commission]] (MMC) was established to review existing policies and make recommendations to the Service and NOAA to better implement the MMPA. The Service is responsible for ensuring the protection of sea otters and marine otters, walruses, polar bears, the three species of manatees, and dugongs; and NOAA was given responsibility to conserve and manage pinnipeds (excluding walruses) and cetaceans.<ref name=mmpa72>{{cite act|url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/laws/mmpa.pdf|date=2007|pages=1–113|title=Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972|type=act|access-date=20 August 2016}}</ref>{{rp|7}}

The Act was updated on 1 January 2016 with a clause banning "the import of fish from fisheries that cannot prove they meet US standards for protecting marine mammals".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://qz.com/864548/a-new-law-updating-the-marine-mammal-protection-act-tries-to-bring-the-world-up-to-us-fishing-standards/|title=A new law will try to save the planet's whales and dolphins through America's seafood purchasing power|work=Quartz|access-date=2018-08-13|language=en-US}}</ref> The requirement to show that protection standards are met is hoped to compel countries exporting fish to the US to more strictly control their fisheries that no protected marine mammals are adversely affected by fishing.<ref name=":1"/>

The 1979 [[Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals]] (CMS) is the only global organization that conserves a broad range of animals, which includes marine mammals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cms.int/sites/default/files/instrument/CMS-text.en_.PDF |title=Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals |year=1979 |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cms.int/en/legalinstrument/cms|title=CMS|publisher=Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals|access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> Of the [[treaty|agreements]] made, three of them deal with the conservation of marine mammals: [[ACCOBAMS]], [[ASCOBANS]] and the [[Wadden Sea Agreement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cms.int/en/cms-instruments/agreements|title=Agreements|publisher=Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals|access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> In 1982, the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]] (UNCLOS) adopted a pollution prevention approach to conservation, which many other conventions at the time also adopted.<ref name=nilufer/>
[[File:Japan Factory Ship Nisshin Maru Whaling Mother and Calf.jpg|thumb|An adult and sub-adult [[Minke whale]] are dragged aboard the ''[[Nisshin Maru]]'', a Japanese whaling vessel]]
The Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS), founded in 1996, specifically protects cetaceans in the Mediterranean area, and "maintains a favorable status", a direct action [[anti-whaling|against whaling]].<ref name=nilufer>{{cite book|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=VdQdAAAAQBAJ |page=131}} |first=Nilufer |last=Ora |year=2013 |title=Regional Co-operation and Protection of the Marine Environment Under International Law |publisher=Koninklijke Brill |location=Leiden, Netherlands |pages=131–137 |isbn=978-90-04-25085-7}}</ref> There are 23 member states.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accobams.org/images/stories/PDF/accobams-parties-and-signatories.pdf|title=List of Contracting Parties and Signatories|year=2011|publisher=ACCOBAMS|access-date=7 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912082326/http://www.accobams.org/images/stories/PDF/accobams-parties-and-signatories.pdf|archive-date=12 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) was adopted alongside ACCOBAMS to establish a special protection area for Europe's increasingly threatened cetaceans.<ref name=nilufer/> Other anti-whaling efforts include a ten-year moratorium in 1986 by the IWC on all whaling,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iwc.int/catches|title=Catch Limits and Catches Taken|access-date=28 November 2016|publisher=International Whaling Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208153737/https://iwc.int/catches|archive-date=8 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and an [[environmental agreement]] (a type of [[international law]]) the [[International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling]] which controlled commercial, scientific and subsistence whaling.<ref>{{cite conference |year=1946 |title=International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling |url=http://www.iwcoffice.org/private/downloads/1r2jdhu5xtuswws0ocw04wgcw/convention.pdf |conference=International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=1–3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407095822/http://www.iwcoffice.org/private/downloads/1r2jdhu5xtuswws0ocw04wgcw/convention.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2014 |access-date=28 November 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Agreement on the Conservation of Seals in the [[Wadden Sea]], enforced in 1991, prohibits the killing or harassment of seals in the Wadden Sea, specifically targeting the harbor seal population.<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=TyXUvLh2DF0C |page=45}} |first=Jonette N. |last=Braathen |year=1998 |title=International Co-operation on Fisheries and Environment |publisher=Nordic Council of Ministers |location=Copenhagen |page=45 |isbn=978-92-893-0198-5 |series=TemaNord}}</ref>

The 1973 [[Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears]] between Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway ([[Svalbard]]), the United States and the Soviet Union outlawed the unregulated hunting of polar bears from aircraft and [[icebreaker]]s, as well as protecting migration, feeding and [[hibernation]] sites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pbsg.npolar.no/en/agreements/agreement1973.html|title=Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears|publisher=IUCN/ Polar Bear Specialist Group|year=1973|location=Oslo, Norway|access-date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221180702/http://pbsg.npolar.no/en/agreements/agreement1973.html|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Various [[non-governmental organizations]] participate in [[marine conservation activism]], wherein they draw attention to and aid in various problems in marine conservation, such as pollution, whaling, bycatch, and so forth. Notable organizations include the [[Greenpeace]] who focus on overfishing and whaling among other things, and [[Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]] who are known for taking direct-action tactics to expose illegal activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://marinebio.org/oceans/conservation/organizations/|title=Marine Conservation Organizations|publisher=MarineBio|access-date=28 November 2016}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>