348 



Fishery Bulletin 88(2). 1990 



beginning in 1984, on 100% of all foreign fishing ves- 

 sels operating within the 200-mile outershelf and 

 slope waters off the United States. (This area is fur- 

 ther referred to as the Exclusive Economic Zone, or 

 EEZ). Since that time in 1984, reporting of marine 

 mammal takes incidental to foreign fishing activities 

 has been more effectively monitored by species and 

 fishery. 



In this paper we summarize the observed incidental 

 take of marine mammals from all foreign fishing ac- 

 tivities that operated within the EEZ off the north- 

 eastern United States from 1977 to 1988. The inciden- 

 tal take of common dolphins Delphinus delphis and of 

 pilot whales Globicephala spp.*, the two most frequent- 

 ly caught species, are examined relative to the type of 

 fishery in which they were taken, the nationality in- 

 volved in the fishery operation, and the time of the in- 

 cidental take (day versus night). Morphological mea- 

 surements, sex, and stomach contents for 33 of the 

 common dolphins taken during 1986 and 1988 are also 

 reported in this study. These measurements and 

 records are the first such information taken from any 

 marine mammal specimens recently killed in the waters 

 off the northeastern United States. 



Summary of foreign fisheries 



Fishing operations 



Large-scale foreign fishing activity began off the U.S. 

 east coast in the early 1960s with the arrival of the 

 distant-water fleet (DWF) from Europe and Japan. Ini- 

 tially, the DWF harvested groundfish (Atlantic cod 

 Gadus morhiia, haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus, 

 hakes, flounders, etc.) and pelagics (Atlantic herring 

 and Atlantic mackerel) (Brown and Halliday 1983). 

 Declining fish stocks, coupled with management mea- 

 sures implemented in the late 1960s, under the auspices 

 of the International Commission for the Northwest 

 Atlantic Fisheries, resulted in the DWF shifting em- 

 phasis to "under-utilized" species, such as long-finned 

 squid Loligo pealei, short-finned squid Illex illecebrosus, 

 and Atlantic butterfish Peprilns triacanthus. 



The MFCMA, which became effective March 1977, 

 significantly altered DWF activities within the EEZ. 

 Fishing effort was immediately reduced, and the num- 



*The distribution of the Atlantic pilot whale Globicephala melaena, 

 the northern species, overlaps with the short-finned pilot whale G. 

 macrorhyncha, mainly a southern species, between about 3.5°30N 

 to 38°00'N (Leatherwood et al. 1976). Although, G. melaena is the 

 most common and the most lil<ely taken in the DWF foreign fish- 

 eries, there is a possibility that the southern species might also be 

 occasionally taken. Therefore, in this paper both pilot whales are 

 considered together. 



ber of foreign vessels operating within the east coast 

 EEZ declined from a high of 161 vessels in 1977 to 26 

 in 1988. From 1977 through 1982, an average of 120 

 different foreign vessels per year (range 102-161) 

 operated within the EEZ. In 1982, there were 112 dif- 

 ferent foreign vessels; 16%, or 18, were Japanese tuna 

 longline vessels operating off the east coast. The North- 

 east Region Observer Program assumed responsibility 

 for observer coverage of the east coast Japanese tuna 

 longline fishery in 1982. This fishery has been con- 

 ducted from the Canadian boundary-line south to 

 Florida and, prior to 1982, in the Gulf of Mexico. In 

 1983, a decrease in the total allowable catch allocated 

 to each foreign country fishing off the east coast re- 

 sulted in fewer foreign vessels operating within the 

 EEZ. Between 1983 and 1988, the numbers of foreign 

 vessels operating within the EEZ each year were 67, 

 52, 62, 33, 27, and 26, respectively. Observer coverage 

 (the ratio of observer coverage days to the number of 

 foreign fishing days) ranged from 25 to 35% for the 

 period 1977-82. Coverage increased steadily since 

 1982, and was maintained at 58%, 86%, 95%, 98%, 

 100%, and 100% in 1983-1988, respectively. 



Since 1977, fourteen nations have been given catch 

 allocations to operate off the east coast within the EEZ. 

 Direct fishing (DWF catching and processing their own 

 catches) was limited to five Outer Continental Shelf 

 locations referred to as fishery windows (Fig. 1) and 

 to specified times of year. From 1977-83, the DWF led 

 by Italy, Spain, and Japan principally targeted long- 

 finned and short-finned squid within these windows. 

 Direct squid fishing operations ceased at the end of the 



1986 fishing season. 



Joint-venture fishing operations (U.S. captains trans- 

 fer their catches to foreign processing vessels) began 

 in 1981. Squid joint ventures, which were unrestricted 

 areally, were authorized without any associated direct 

 fishing allocations. In 1983 the German Democratic 

 Republic (GDR), and in 1984 the Netherlands, com- 

 menced joint-venture operations for Atlantic mackerel 

 off the east coast. Mackerel joint ventures which have 

 been authorized with associated allocations for direct 

 fishing have not been restricted to the fishery windows. 

 In 1988, Poland also commenced commercial fishing 

 operations for Atlantic mackerel that included joint- 

 venture and direct fishing. Prior to 1988, Poland con- 

 ducted a research fishery each year between 1981 and 



1987 for Atlantic mackerel that involved Polish catch- 

 ing/processing vessels staffed with Polish and U.S. 

 fishery data collectors. 



Foreign vessels engaged in Loligo and Illex squid 

 fishing operations used off-bottom trawls, and did not 

 utilize squid attracting devices, such as lights, during 

 night-time fishing. In the Atlantic mackerel fishery, 

 both off-bottom high-opening trawls and pelagic trawls 



