news

            The legislation (H.R.1006) will extend the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, which was first authorized in 2000, to address the funding needs of facilities assisting the National Marine Fisheries Service with the recovery and rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals.

“This program has been very successful in supporting facilities around the nation to rehabilitate marine mammals and return many of them to the wild,” said Young, the Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee.  “For those animals that cannot be returned to the wild, due to illness or other factors, the facilities have taken on the responsibility of caring for those marine mammals.”

Young’s legislation will increase the funding authorization for the Department of Commerce from $4 million per year to up to $6 million a year.  The bill will cap administrative costs and roll over any unused funds into the grant program to be issued as grants in the following fiscal year.

Facilities, like the Alaska Sea Life Center, which is the only permanent stranding facility for marine mammals in Alaska, apply for grants to help cover the cost of rehabilitating stranded marine mammals. In addition, the Administration will be authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with qualified individuals to respond while at-sea to marine mammals entangled in floating debris.

The legislation will also create an emergency assistance process through which the agency will be able to enter into cooperative agreements with stranding facilities to facilitate the movement of funds to facilities responding to stranding events.  In addition, the legislation will reauthorize funding for the Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Fund, which allows the agency to respond to mass stranding events and reimburse facilities that have assisted in the response activity.      

“I’m extremely pleased by the number of marine mammal public display and research institutions that have dedicated resources and time toward recovering and rehabilitating marine mammals,” Young said.   “This legislation will allow the National Marine Fisheries Service and the stranding facilities to continue their important efforts in the future.”