Catherine Harrison (asker) Jun 24, 2010:

I agree that the Department of the Navy is the correct translation; however in this case the functions of the departments are completely different, so I really think it would be completely incorrect. I am choosing the Dept of marine and wildlife resources, as this is sufficiently similar to fish and wildlife to draw the obvious conclusions of where they are the same, and yet the name is sufficiently different that anybody who really feels the need to have more knowledge would do a deeper investigation. Again i thank all of you! My hat is off to all of you.

Muriel Vasconcellos Jun 22, 2010:

It has to be 'Navy' It can't be anything else--especially with "de la" in front of it. It used to be called "Departamento" and now it's called "Secretaria." I think it would be risky to assume that it's anything else. Or it could even be the US Dept of the Navy. There's nothing to say that the Navy isn't concerned with these issues. At least you will be correct if you say 'Navy', even if the term is being used incorrectly in Spanish. Guessing isn't safe.