The food for marine mammals must be wholesome, palatable, and free from contamination and must be of sufficient quantity and nutritive value to maintain marine mammals in a state of good health. The diet must be prepared with consideration for factors such as age, species, condition, and size of the marine mammal being fed. Marine mammals must be offered food at least once a day, except as directed by the attending veterinarian.

Food receptacles, if used, must be located so as to be accessible to all marine mammals in the same primary enclosure and must be placed so as to minimize contamination of the food they contain. Such food receptacles must be cleaned and sanitized after each use.

Food, when given to each marine mammal individually, must be given by an employee or attendant responsible to management who has the necessary knowledge to assure that each marine mammal receives an adequate quantity of food to maintain it in good health. Such employee or attendant is required to have the ability to recognize deviations from a normal state of good health in each marine mammal so that the food intake can be adjusted accordingly. Inappetence exceeding 24 hours must be reported immediately to the attending veterinarian. Public feeding may be permitted only in the presence and under the supervision of a sufficient number of knowledgeable, uniformed employees or attendants. Such employees or attendants must assure that the marine mammals are receiving the proper amount and type of food. Only food supplied by the facility where the marine mammals are kept may be fed to the marine mammals by the public. Marine mammal feeding records noting the estimated individual daily consumption must be maintained at the facility for a period of 1 year and must be made available for APHIS inspection. For marine mammals that are individually fed and not subject to public feeding, the feeding records should reflect an accurate account of food intake; for animals fed, in part, by the public, and for large, group-fed colonies of marine mammals where individual rations are not practical or feasible to maintain, the daily food consumption should be estimated as precisely as possible.

Food preparation and handling must be conducted so as to assure the wholesomeness and nutritive value of the food. Frozen fish or other frozen food must be stored in freezers that are maintained at a maximum temperature of −18 °C (0 °F). The length of time food is stored and the method of storage, the thawing of frozen food, and the maintenance of thawed food must be conducted in a manner that will minimize contamination and that will assure that the food retains nutritive value and wholesome quality until the time of feeding. When food is thawed in standing or running water, cold water must be used. All foods must be fed to the marine mammals within 24 hours following the removal of such foods from the freezers for thawing, or if the food has been thawed under refrigeration, it must be fed to the marine mammals within 24 hours of thawing.