Proposed incidental harassment authorizations for seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean

A coalition of environmental and animal welfare organizations urges the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to withdraw proposed incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) for five industrial seismic surveys off the U.S. East Coast. The document argues that NMFS used outdated scientific thresholds to underestimate the 'take' of marine mammals, failed to account for cumulative impacts of multiple surveys, and ignored significant harm to prey species and acoustic habitats. It specifically highlights the risk to the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, asserting that the proposed activity could be a "tipping point" for the species' survival. The coalition further claims that the proposed mitigation measures, such as seasonal closures and visual monitoring, are insufficient and not based on the best available science.

• The proposed seismic activity is vast in scale, involving five private applicants planning to run high-powered airgun arrays over more than 92,500 miles of trackline in one year, with up to six vessels operating simultaneously.
• The coalition argues that NMFS's use of a 30% population estimate as a 'small number' for take is arbitrary and inconsistent with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), noting that for some species, like sperm whales, the combined take across five permits would exceed 100% of the population.
• NMFS is accused of using an outdated 160 dB (RMS) threshold for behavioral disruption, which the document claims significantly underestimates the impact area; a 140 dB threshold would result in an impact area more than 15 times greater at certain depths.
• The coalition claims NMFS failed to conduct a cumulative 'negligible impact' analysis for all five surveys together, instead analyzing each application separately despite the activities being substantially similar and occurring in the same region.
• Seismic airguns are reported to cause severe harm to prey species, including a 50% decline in zooplankton abundance within 0.75 miles of a single airgun source and significant reductions in commercial fish catch rates (40–80%).
• The document argues that the proposed 10 km buffer zone for right whales is insufficient because it is based on the outdated 160 dB threshold and does not account for the vast scale of acoustic masking.
• The statement argues that NMFS failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by relying on a 2014 BOEM Programmatic EIS that is outdated and does not reflect current marine mammal densities or the conservation status of right whales.
• The document suggests that NMFS should require the use of quieter alternatives, such as the Bolt eSource airgun or marine vibroseis systems, to reduce noise output and minimize marine mammal take.

APA

Earthjustice (2017). Proposed incidental harassment authorizations for seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/comments-on-proposed-atlantic-ihas.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. Proposed incidental harassment authorizations for seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean. 2017. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/comments-on-proposed-atlantic-ihas.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=Proposed incidental harassment authorizations for seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean |date=21 July 2017 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/comments-on-proposed-atlantic-ihas.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2017proposed, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Proposed incidental harassment authorizations for seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/comments-on-proposed-atlantic-ihas.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }