Services under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The State law 

 enforcement officers are designated by the Regional Director, NMFS, to 

 act as Federal law enforcement agents in the enforcement of the act within 

 the State's jurisdiction or against its own citizens anywhere. 



There is a new Cooperative Enforcement Agreement pending between the U.S. 

 Department of Commerce, NOAA/NMFS, the U.S. Coast Guard and the State Depart- 

 ment of Natural Resources Florida Marine Patrol for law enforcement services 

 under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, deputizing State Officers 

 as Federal Enforcement Agents to enforce the act within the Fishery Conser- 

 vation Zone adjacent to the State and within the boundaries of the State and 

 providing U.S. Coast Guard assistance to the State, should it be available. 

 In exchange, the Department of Commerce, for $78,000, is to provide the 

 State with enhanced communication and data processing capabilities. 



The effectiveness of this enforcement arm of the NMFS is limited by 

 lack of staff necessary to patrol the ocean waters within the jurisdiction 

 of the FCMA, Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act and 

 their forced reliance on other agencies (Florida Marine Patrol and U.S. 

 Coast Guard). 



The only law enforcement responsibility in NOAA outside of NMFS statutory 

 responsibility is that of enforcing Marine Sanctuary regulations. However, 

 the only two designated Marine Sanctuaries are enforced by agencies outside 

 of Commerce under contract to NOAA/Commerce (Monitor and Key Largo), at the 

 present time. 



3. Florida Marine Patrol 



The Florida Marine Patrol, law enforcement arm of the State Department 

 of Natural Resources, has an office and staff (25) at Marathon in Monroe 

 County. The Monroe County Marine Patrol has the responsibility for ^forcing 

 all State regulations in State waters on both sides of the Keys; NMFS regu- 

 lations for marine mammals and NMFS/Fish and Wildlife regulations for endan- 

 gered and threatened species in Florida Keys State waters; regulations for 

 endangered and threatened species in Federal waters and regulations for the 

 Marine Mammal Protection Act where its own citizens are involved anywhere. 

 Florida Marine Patrol agents are also uniformed officers of the State of 

 Florida and must enforce all State laws, both on land and in the water. The 

 State waters of the Florida Keys include the 3 mile area on both sides of 

 the Keys. 



The USCG and the Patrol have verbal agreements to notify one another of 

 possible State/Federal violations. 



The extent of Florida Marine Patrol effectiveness in both its statutory 

 and delegated responsibilities depends on adequate staffing and equipment. 

 Informal cooperation between the State enforcement officers and the Coast 

 Guard has increased the effectiveness of both agencies. 



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