Improving Captive Marine Mammal Welfare in the United States: Science-Based Recommendations for Improved Regulatory Requirements for Captive Marine Mammal Care

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the agency under the US Department of Agriculture responsible for implementing the Animal Welfare Act and its regulations, proposed a rule in February 2016 to amend the captive marine mammal handling and care regulations for the first time in more than 30 years. This review discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the current regulatory standards and these proposed amendments. It reviews at length existing research on marine mammal species commonly found in captivity and, based on that research, recommends modifying the proposed amendments in order to improve captive marine mammal welfare. By Naomi A. Rose, Georgia Hancock Snusz, Danielle M. Brown, and E. C. M. Parsons (2017), 35 pages.