MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



Applicable regulations set forth two bases for 

 placing a fishery in Category I — a specific directive 

 from Congress or the existence of "documentary 

 evidence" demonstrating a frequent take of marine 

 mammals. The Commission had previously recom- 

 mended that the Service use the best available infor- 

 mation when categorizing a fishery, whether or not 

 the level of take has been "documented." In its 17 

 August 1990 letter, the Conunission again noted that, 

 in some instances, the Service should place fisheries 

 in Category I based on analogy to other Category I 

 fisheries because of a similarity in gear type, fishery 

 location, etc. By analogy to the Atlantic Ocean 

 swordfish, tuna, and shark gillnet fishery, the Com- 

 mission recommended a Category I listing for the 

 Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico gillnet fishery for these 

 species despite the absence of "documentary evidence" 

 on the level of incidental take in those areas. 



The Commission also noted that some Category m 

 fisheries, such as the shrimp trawl and menhaden 

 purse seine fisheries off the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 states, may take marine mammals only rarely in 

 individual fishery operations, but, because a large 

 number of operations are conducted, may cumulative- 

 ly have significant adverse effects on marine mammal 

 populations. The Commission therefore recommended 

 that, unless available information is sufficient to show 

 that the take in these fisheries is negligible, they be 

 upgraded to Category II fisheries so as to require 

 registration and reporting to obtain needed information 

 on fishing effort and incidental take rates. The 

 Commission cautioned that, without such information, 

 it may be difficult to justify authorizing a take under 

 the new management regime being developed to 

 govern the incidental take of marine mammals after I 

 October 1993. 



The revised list of fisheries was published by the 

 Service on 7 February I99I. As proposed, the 

 Florida east coast shark gillnet fishery, the southern 

 New England/mid-Atlantic inshore squid fishery, and 

 the Gulf of Alaska/Bering Sea longline/setline sable- 

 fish fishery were placed in Category U. Also as 

 proposed, the groundfish trawl fishery in Alaska 

 State-managed waters was added to the list as a 

 Category III fishery. 



The Service determined that the Atlantic Ocean 

 swordfish, tuna, and shark gillnet fishery and the 

 Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico swordfish, tuna, and 

 shark gillnet fishery should be treated as a single 

 fishery. The combined Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, 

 and Gulf of Mexico gillnet fishery for swordfish, tuna 

 and shark was placed in Category I. The Alaska 

 Peninsula salmon drift gillnet fishery, including the 

 South Unimak portion of that fishery, was moved 

 from Category I to Category II. However, the South 

 Unimak fishery was listed separately to improve 

 monitoring of incidental take in that fishery. The 

 Prince William Sound set gillnet fishery was also 

 downgraded from a Category I to a Category n 

 fishery. In light of efforts undertaken by the State of 

 Oregon to reduce the impact of the sea urchin fishery 

 on Steller sea lions, including a public education 

 program and adoption of a 1,000-foot buffer zone 

 around Steller sea lion rookeries, the Service deter- 

 mined that placing the Oregon sea urchin fishery in 

 Category II was not warranted. The Service also 

 determined that squid landed in Gulf of Maine trawl 

 fisheries were primarily caught as bycatch in the 

 groundfish and shrimp trawl fisheries. As such, the 

 Gulf of Maine squid fishery was determined not to 

 warrant inclusion in the list of fisheries. 



In August 1991, the Service consulted informally 

 with the Commission regarding possible changes to 

 the list of fisheries for the 1992 fishing season. By 

 letter of 31 August 1991, the Commission provided 

 recommendations to the Service. Among other things, 

 the Commission recommended that, when possible, 

 proposals to reclassify Category I fisheries be accom- 

 panied by data on observer effort and the numbers and 

 species of marine mammals taken. The Commission 

 also reiterated its recommendation that certain fisher- 

 ies, such as the shrimp trawl and menhaden purse 

 seine fisheries off the South Atlantic and Gulf states, 

 which may be having more than a negligible impact 

 on marine mammal stocks, be upgraded to Category 

 n so that more reliable information on fishing effort 

 and marine mammal take rates can be obtained. The 

 Service had plaimed to have a revised list of fisheries 

 in place by 1 January 1992; however, proposed 

 revisions had yet to be published at the end of 1991. 



Under the interim exemption, all vessels participat- 

 ing in Category I or Category n fisheries must 



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