reached agreement on modifications to the State regulations 

 on gill and trammel nets. Among other things, the regulations 

 impose a year-round prohibition on gill netting north of Point 

 Reyes and in waters less than 40 fathoms deep in selected 

 areas from Point Reyes south to Waddell Creek in San Mateo 

 County . 



At the end of 1986, the Commission was concerned that 

 little apparent progress was being made toward determining 

 and mitigating the impact of incidental take on the harbor 

 porpoise. On 23 December 1986, the Commission wrote to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, noting that, as of that 

 date, the Service had not: (1) assessed the status of the 

 affected population or populations of harbor porpoise; (2) 

 determined if the incidental take had caused or may be causing 

 any populations to be reduced or maintained below their level 

 of maximum net productivity; or (3) issued a general permit 

 authorizing any incidental take of the species. The Commission 

 pointed out that, in addition to the biological impacts on 

 the populations, the lack of a general permit made all taking 

 of harbor porpoise along the U.S. west coast illegal. 



In its 23 December letter, the Commission recommended 

 that the Service: (a) ensure that the ongoing status of stock 

 assessment for harbor porpoise be completed by January 1987; 

 (b) depending on the result of that review and before coastal 

 gill net fisheries began again in May, take the necessary 

 steps either to authorize a specified level of incidental 

 take or prohibit further taking; and (3) ensure that harbor 

 porpoise take under a general permit be reported promptly, 

 that data and samples necessary to assess the effects of the 

 take be provided to the Service and/or the California Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game, and that monitoring efforts be suffi- 

 cient to accurately determine the level, locations, and age/sex 

 composition of any incidental take. 



On 16 January 1987, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 convened a meeting to review a preliminary report on the status 

 of the harbor porpoise in California. Representatives of the 

 Commission participated in that meeting. The status report, 

 published in final form in April 1987, concluded that, using 

 the central estimate of abundance of 1,854 animals (April 

 1985) and assuming no net emigration of animals from the north, 

 harbor porpoise abundance in central California is between 29 

 to 81 percent of that in 1969. If abundance were at carrying 

 capacity in 1969, harbor porpoise in central California are 

 currently near or below the level defined as depleted in the 

 Marine Mammal Protection Act. 



At the end of 1987, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 had not made a formal determination as to the status of the 

 harbor porpoise population affected by coastal set net fisheries 



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