Chapter III — Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions 



register with the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 and obtain an exemption certificate. At the end of 

 1989, approximately 10,400 vessel owners had 

 registered for and had been issued exemption certifi- 

 cates. Exemption certificates were renewed automati- 

 cally by the Service in 1990 and, by the end of that 

 year, nearly 16,000 vessels participating in Category 

 I or Category n fisheries had registered and had 

 obtained exemption certificates. Exemption certifi- 

 cates were renewed in 1991 only if the required 

 reports had been received by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service. At the end of 1991, 12,194 vessels 

 were registered as participating in Category I and/or 

 Category II fisheries. With the exception of those 

 fisheries added to the list of fisheries in February 

 1991, the number of vessels registered in nearly all 

 Category I and Category 11 fisheries declined between 

 1990 and 1991. It is unknown whether the decline in 

 registration reflects a decline in the number of vessels 

 engaged in conmiercial fisheries or an increase in the 

 number of vessels participating in fisheries without 

 registering for an exemption. 



Fishermen operating in Category I and Category n 

 fisheries must maintain accurate daily logs of fishing 

 effort, including gear type and target species; the 

 number, species, and location of marine mammals 

 taken; type of marine mammal interaction {e.g., 

 disturbance, injury, or mortality); any intentional 

 takes and the methods used to deter marine mammals 

 from gear or catch; and any loss of fish or gear 

 caused by marine mammals. By the end of each year, 

 an annual report, including a copy of the required 

 logs, must be submitted to the Service. Category III 

 fishermen are not required to submit armual reports, 

 but must report all lethal incidental taking of marine 

 mammals to the Service within 10 days after returning 

 from the trip during which the taking occurred. 



Regulations setting forth the reporting requirements 

 under the interim exemption did not become effective 

 until 16 January 1990. Even though the reporting 

 regulations had yet to enter into force, some 3,500 

 annual reports for 1989 were voluntarily submitted, 

 based upon the requirements set out in an earlier 

 published proposed rule. For 1990, the first year of 

 mandatory reporting, just over 10,000 reports were 

 filed. That is, less than two-thirds of the vessels 

 required to submit reports did so. Preliminary data 



from the 1990 reports indicate that, for the 571,000 

 fishing days covered, 250,000 marine mammal 

 interactions with fishing gear occurred, 9 1 ,600 marine 

 mammals were harassed by fishermen, almost 2,100 

 marine mammals were injured, and more than 2,600 

 marine mammals were killed. Some reported interac- 

 tions may have been very minor and, in some cases, 

 may constitute nothing more than observations of 

 marine mammals in the vicinity of the fishing opera- 

 tion. Gillnet fisheries, which accounted for just over 

 half of the reported fishing effort in terms of the 

 number of days fished, accounted for 70 percent of 

 the reported mortality. Troll fisheries, which account- 

 ed for 30 percent of the fishing effort, accounted for 

 about one-half of the reported marine mammal injur- 

 ies. Extrapolations based on data fi"om the observer 

 program suggest that fishermen's reports may under- 

 estimate marine mammal mortality occurring in at 

 least some conmiercial fisheries. Figures on the 

 number of reports filed by Category I and Category n 

 fishermen for 1991 and on the reported level of 

 incidental take are not yet available. 



As discussed above, the 1988 amendments required 

 establishment of an observer program to monitor 

 between 20 and 35 percent of the fishing operations 

 conducted by Category I vessels. Early in 1989, 

 however, it became apparent that funding levels would 

 be insufficient even for minimal (20 percent) coverage 

 of all designated Category I fisheries. In response, 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service established 

 criteria for setting priorities for placing observers in 

 Category I fisheries based upon (1) whether depleted 

 species are taken; (2) the population trends of the 

 species taken in the fishery; (3) the annual take rate of 

 marine mammals, expressed in terms of population 

 percentage; and (4) whether marine mammals for 

 which a quota has been established (i.e., Steller sea 

 lions and North Pacific fur seals) are taken. The 

 Service also decided that, rather than providing 

 straight 20 percent coverage in the top priority fisher- 

 ies until funds were exhausted, it would consider 

 reduced coverage in some fisheries if reliable esti- 

 mates of incidental taking could be made from less 

 than 20 percent coverage. 



For Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 the annual author- 

 ization for the interim exemption observer program 

 was $7.5 million. While this level of funding was 



83 



