Data / Federal rules / 2026-05263

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Fisheries Research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on March 18, 2026. Comments closed on April 17, 2026.

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What the agency says

NMFS has received a request from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to fisheries research in the coastal bays of Texas, over the course of 5 years from the issuance of a final rule and Letter of Authorization (LOA). Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS proposes regulations setting forth permissible methods of taking, other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on such marine mammal stocks (i.e., mitigation measures), and requirements pertaining to monitoring and reporting such takes, and requests comments on the proposed regulations. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the promulgation of the requested MMPA regulations, and NMFS' responses to public comments will be summarized in the final rule announcing our decision.

Key facts

Document number: 2026-05263
Type: Proposed rule
Action: Proposed rule; request for comments
Agency: Commerce Department; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Published: March 18, 2026
Comments due: April 17, 2026
Dates: Comments and information must be received no later than April 17, 2026.
Docket: Docket No. 260303-0061
Regulation ID (RIN): 0648-BN58
Code of Federal Regulations: 50 CFR 217
Topics: Endangered and threatened species; Fish; Marine mammals; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Wildlife
Pages: 18

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

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Everything from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · Rules on endangered and threatened species · Rules on fish · Rules on marine mammals · Published in March 2026

Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.