Waring et al : Incidental take of marine mammals off nortfieast United States 



349 



Figure 1 



Foreign fishery windows within the EEZ off the north- 

 eastern United States. 



have been used; currently the DWF utihzes several dif- 

 ferent pelagic trawls. 



Principal target species 



Loligo or long-finned squid 



Although Loligo occurs from the Gulf of Mexico north 

 to New Brunswick, Canada (Summers 1967), the dis- 

 tribution of long-finned squid (hereafter referred to as 

 Loligo) is primarily from Cape Hatteras, North Caro- 

 lina, to Georges Bank and into the Gulf of Maine (Lange 

 1980). Loligo overwinters along the shelf edge from 

 Cape Hatteras to Georges Bank at water temperatures 

 generally >8°C (Lange and Sissenwine 1980). During 

 spring and summer Loligo moves into nearshore waters 

 to spawn (Summers 1967). Commercial concentrations 

 are found primarily off southern New England and the 

 mid-Atlantic regions from about Georges Bank to 

 Baltimore Canyon (Lange 1980, Lange and Johnson 

 1981). DWF fishing prior to the MFCMA occurred at 

 depths of 100-500 m along the shelf edge from Novem- 

 ber through March (Lange 1980), but since 1977 fishing 

 operations have been restricted in area and season. 

 Since 1987, the allocation iov Loligo has been reduced 

 strictly to bycatch in the Atlantic mackerel fishery; 

 therefore, DWF Loligo fishing has been suspended. 



///ex or short-finned squid 



The short-finned squid (hereafter referred to as Illex) 

 is a more northern species than Loligo, ranging from 

 Florida to Newfoundland (Squires 1957). In late 

 autumn (October-December), Illex moves offshore 

 toward the shelf edge and beyond (Lange and Sissen- 

 wine 1980). Spawning is believed to occur offshore at 

 great depths, primarily from December to March 

 (Lange and Sissenwine 1980). During warmer months 

 Illex move nearshore to feed (Lange 1980). Commer- 

 cial concentrations occur from the mid-Atlantic, near 

 Baltimore Canyon, to Newfoundland (Lange and 

 Johnson 1981). The DWF Illex fishery took place from 

 June through October, while this species is on the shelf 

 (Lange 1980). In 1987, Illex allocations for DWF 

 fisheries were suspended. At present, there is no direct 

 foreign fishing effort for this species. 



Atlantic mackerel 



Atlantic mackerel, a major target species of the DWF, 

 overwinter along the edge of the continental shelf 

 between Cape Hatteras and Sable Island, Nova Scotia 

 (Anderson and Paciorkowski 1980). The overwintering 

 population consists of two components (southern and 

 northern), which separate in spring. The southern com- 

 ponent moves nearshore in early spring along the 



