California Says No to Marine Fisheries Service Plan to Blast Sea Lions with Underwater Noise
Press Release from The Natural Resources Defense
Council
SAN RAFAEL (December 10, 1999) Coastal
Commission officials today unanimously voted down a National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) permit request to test a pulsed power generator
designed to deter sea lions, citing insufficient evidence exists to
support NMFS claims that system would not harm marine mammals. NMFS was
seeking a permit to begin testing off the San Diego and Imperial Beach
coastline as early as next spring and would have conducted tests for up
to five months.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC),
the California League of Coastal Protection and the U.S. Humane Society
also objected to the NMFS plan. Representatives from the groups
testified that the pulsed power generator wouldn't deter sea lions away
from recreational fishing vessels and that exposing sea lions to intense
undersea shock waves could cause serious injury or death.
"We're very pleased that the California
Coastal Commission has taken a strong stand to protect marine mammals
against the proliferation of these dangerous devices," Michael Jasny,
consulting attorney to NRDC.
"What NMFS was proposing here was not
science," said Susan Jordan of the California League of Coastal
Protection. " In denying this proposal, the Coastal Commission took the
responsible path and refused to allow NMFS to do a field trial with a
device that's never been tested for impacts on sea lions or marine
mammals."
The NMFS pulsed power generator is the
latest in a series of increasingly intrusive acoustic harassment devices
used to keep marine mammals clear of commercial and recreational
vessels. Underwater acoustic devices have been deployed in various forms
over the years to harass and frighten off marine mammals trying to
snatch fish from the hooks of anglers. But according to NRDC, use of
underwater sound in this way has yet to demonstrate results. NRDC marine
experts were especially concerned because the proposed pulse power
generator would employ short bursts of high frequency sound 1,000 times
more intense than previous harassment devices, along with a shock wave
that could cause internal injury.
The Natural Resources Defense Council is
a national non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and
environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the
environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 400,000 members
nationwide and offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San
Francisco.
Visit NRDC at web site: http://www.nrdc.org
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