White Shark Regulations & Permits

Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary prohibits attracting a white shark in the sanctuary; or approaching within 50 meters of any white shark within the Special Wildlife Protection Zone 6 and 7 or within one nautical mile from these zones, as described in 15CFR922(a)(13). The regulations and supporting rationale are published in the Federal Register (73 FR 70488). Under the umbrella White Shark Stewardship Project, and in order to protect and conserve the White Shark population. Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary may issue a permit for some activities otherwise prohibited, provided the Superintendent finds that the activities meet the criteria described in 15 C.F.R. Section 922.83. For more information on how to apply for a permit, see the Permits page.

Under California Code Section 5517 to it is unlawful to take white sharks or use any shark bait, shark lure, or shark chum to attract white sharks except under authority of a scientific collecting permit issued pursuant to California law - California Code Section 1002. Sanctuary regulations complement California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations and are specific to attraction and approach of White Sharks. Hence, projects such as scientific tagging studies typically need a sanctuary permit allowing White Shark attraction and a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Scientific Collecting Permit for the attraction, tagging, and/or capture.

In addition, under section 101(a)(5) (A-D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(5)) the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service issues authorizations (incidental take authorization or letter of authorization) to researchers to possess marine mammal blubber for the purposes of baiting and/or attracting White Sharks for capture and/or tagging.

Activities that involve White Shark attraction or approach typically fall into the following permit categories:

In 2014, NOAA released a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) to evaluate possible activities related to white shark attraction and approach anticipated to be proposed by research and education projects. These activities were evaluated because they may have the potential to affect White Sharks within the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary management area. This PEA also considered various methodologies that may be proposed by applicants to conduct White Shark research or education projects in the sanctuaries.