船操作 & 环境法律 in the 切萨皮克 Bay: Endangered Species Act and 《海洋哺乳动物保护法 - June 2012
Tug boat owners, cargo carriers, cruise ships, and pleasure vessel owners take notice ——今年二月, the National Marine Fisheries Service acting under authority of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. sections 1531-1544, listed the Atlantic Sturgeon as “Endangered” in the 切萨皮克 Bay. The listing decision gives tremendous protection to the fish; anyone who treats the fish in a manner that qualifies as a “take” risks civil penalties up to $25,000.每宗违例罚款00美元，刑事罚款最高可达50,000美元.00美元和一年监禁. 16 U.S.C. 第1540节.
该法案将“拿走”定义为“骚扰”, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, 或收集, 或试图从事任何此类行为.” 16 U.S.C. 第1532(19)条. The operator of a tugboat that hits an Atlantic Sturgeon would have committed a “take”, 因此可能面临民事或刑事处罚. 随着海上交通量的增加, whether due to the James River Barge Line / 64 Express promoted by the Virginia Port Authority as a way for container traffic to “leap frog” congestion on I-64, 或者由于其他因素, the potential grows for unwelcome interaction with one or more ESA listed species. 类似的, 一个人在游船上钓岩鱼, 或者用拖网渔船捕捞鲱鱼, who instead catches an Atlantic Sturgeon on his line or in his net is at similar risk. The listing decision, which was published in the Federal Register at 77 Fed. Reg. 5880 - 01(2月. 6, 2012), extends protection to all Atlantic Sturgeon thatare spawned in the watersheds that drain into the 切萨皮克 Bay and into coastal waters from the Delaware-马里兰 border on Fenwick Island to Cape Henry, VA, as well as wherever these fish occur in coastal bays and estuaries and the marine environment.
77 FR 5880-01. Adding more animals to the list also raises the potential for unwelcome interaction between vessel and protected species. Other sea creatures found in the 切萨皮克 Bay that are protected by an ESA listing include the Kemp’s Ridley Turtle, 棱皮龟, 还有红海龟, 美洲鳗, 双髻鲨, 暗色鲨鱼, and the Sand Tiger Shark not yet listed but being monitored for potential future listing.
Managing the risks associated with operating vessels in the 切萨皮克 Bay demands crew awareness as to identity of animals that have been ESA listed and instruction to them that the best course is to give those animals a wide berth. A corollary principle is that any interaction with these animals should be reported to the National Marine Fisheries Service, as the potential penalties for noncompliance with the ESA are more severe in the absence of self-reporting. There are of course situations where interaction with ESA protected species is foreseeable or even inevitable . . . the best way to manage that risk is to obtain an “incidental take permit” from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
In addition to the ESA, all marine mammals in the United States are protected by a separate law – 《海洋哺乳动物保护法》 16 U.S.C. sections 1361-1389 – which offers protections to many animals that get no protection under the Endangered Species Act. Examples of marine mammals protected by the MMPA include whales, dolphins, seals and manatees. Some marine mammals have been listed under the Endangered Species Act, 也就是说他们同时受到两部法律的保护, two examples being the Northern Right Whale and the West Indian Manatee. Sightings of these animals in the 切萨皮克 Bay are extremely rare though Chessie the Manatee was sighted in summer 2011 in Calvert County, 马里兰, 在缺席了大约10年之后, that prior sighting being Chessie’s transit through the Virginia Great Bridge Locks on August 30, 2001.
The only marine mammal that frequents the 切萨皮克 Bay with any regularity is the Bottlenose Dolphin. The MMPA forbids anyone to “take” a marine mammal with “take” broadly defined to include: “to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, 或者试图骚扰, hunt, capture, 或者杀死任何海洋哺乳动物.” 16 U.S.C. section 1362 (14). 违规者可能面临最高1万美元的民事罚款.违规者罚款$20,000.00加一年监禁. 16 U.S.C. 第1375节. 和ESA一样, risk management strategies are to raise crew awareness that all marine mammals are federally protected and instruct crews to give them a wide berth; report all interactions to the National Marine Fisheries Service; and, for vessel operations where interaction with MMPA protected species are foreseeable or even inevitable, 从国家海洋渔业局获得捕捞许可证, normally issued in the form of an “incidental take authorization/letter of authorization” or an “incidental harassment authorization”.
写的 James T. Lang.