NOAA Fisheries Denies Permission to Import 20 Beluga Whales for Public Dispaly

The NOAA Fisheries denied Georgia Aquarium's request to import 18 beluga whales from Russia for public display.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service recently denied permission for import of  beluga whales to Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

The Aquarium sought permission to import the whales from Utrish Marine Mammal Research Station on Russia's Black Sea Coast for public display.

The NOAA's decision was based on the requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) , which were not met, according to the officials. 

This is the first time that an application seeking permission to import wild marine mammals has been denied in more than 20 years.

"The Georgia Aquarium clearly worked hard to follow the required process and submit a thorough application, and we appreciate their patience and cooperation as we carefully considered this case," Sam Rauch, acting assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said in a press release. "However, under the strict criteria of the law, we were unable to determine if the import of these belugas, combined with the active capture operation in Russia and other human activities, would have an adverse impact on this stock of wild beluga whales."

NOAA Fisheries denied the application as it failed to meet several permit criteria set by MMPA.  NOAA Fisheries could not identify whether the proposed import would have an undesirable impact on the Sakhalin-Amur beluga whale stock. Apart from this, out of the 20 whales that were proposed for import, five were only one and a half years when captured and would possibly be still nursing. The whales were captured between 2006 and 2011.

These social animals are seen migrating, hunting and interacting in groups of ten to hundreds. They are found in the Arctic and sub-Arctic waters of Russia, North America and Greenland. Their population faces a great threat from human activities like pollution, ship strikes, habitat destruction and getting ensnared in fish gear.