Chapter HI — Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions 



ies Service. In addition, owners of vessels engaged in 

 fisheries that frequently take marine mammals must, 

 if requested, accept the placement of natural resources 

 observers on board their vessels or face revocation of 

 their exemptions. 



Fishermen engaged in fisheries determined to have 

 only a remote possibility of taking marine mammals 

 need not register with the Service or obtain an exemp- 

 tion certificate. They must, however, report all 

 marine mammal mortalities incidental to their opera- 

 tions to avoid being liable for penalties. 



The 1988 amendments required the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service to publish, by 22 January 

 1989, a proposed list of all U.S. fisheries, classifying 

 them as Category I (those with frequent incidental 

 takes). Category II (those with occasional incidental 

 takes), or Category EI (those with either a remote 

 possibility of or no known incidental takes). After 

 opportunity for public comment, the Service was to 

 publish a final list by 23 March 1989, along with 

 information advising vessel owners how to obtain 

 exemptions and otherwise comply with the new provi- 

 sions. Other Service responsibilities included estab- 

 lishing an observer program under which 20 to 35 

 percent of the operations by Category I vessels would 

 be monitored; creating an alternative observation 

 program if less than 20 percent of the operations in a 

 Category I fishery would be observed; implementing 

 an information management system capable of pro- 

 cessing and analyzing observer data and reports 

 required from vessel owners engaged in Category I 

 and Category n fisheries; and consulting with the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service before taking actions or making 

 determinations involving marine mammal species 

 under jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. 



As noted above, the interim exemption was intend- 

 ed to govern marine mammal-fishery interactions for 

 a five-year period. It is expected that, before the 

 interim exemption expires. Congress will re-examine 

 the issue in light of the information gathered under the 

 exemption program, and enact a permanent system for 

 regulating incidental taking. Efforts to develop a new 

 regime to govern the take of marine mammals inci- 

 dental to commercial fishing operations after 1 Octo- 

 ber 1993 are discussed in the following section of this 

 Chapter. 



Implementation of the Interim Exemption 



To implement the interim exemption for commer- 

 cial fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 issued a series of regulations during 1989. Develop- 

 ment of those regulations and other actions taken by 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service and others 

 during 1989 and 1990 to implement the interim 

 exemption for commercial fisheries are discussed in 

 the Annual Reports for 1989 and 1990. 



One of the continuing responsibilities of the 

 Service is to update, at least annually, the list of 

 fisheries. The initial list of fisheries was published by 

 the Service on 20 April 1989, placing each fishery in 

 one of three categories depending on the frequency 

 with which marine mammals are taken. Based on 

 observer data, fishermen's reports, and other available 

 information, the Service, on 17 July 1990, proposed 

 certain revisions to the list. 



The Service proposed to reclassify four fisheries 

 (the Florida east coast shark gillnet fishery, the 

 southern New England/mid-Adantic inshore squid 

 fishery, the Gulf of Alaska/Bering Sea longline/setline 

 sablefish fishery, and the Oregon sea urchin fishery) 

 from Category IH to Category H. The Service also 

 proposed to add the following four fisheries to the 

 list: the Atlantic Ocean swordfish, tuna, and shark 

 gillnet fishery to Category I; the Caribbean and Gulf 

 of Mexico swordfish, tuna, and shark gillnet fishery 

 to Category II; the Gulf of Maine squid trawl fishery 

 to Category HI; and the groundfish ttawl fisheries in 

 Alaska State-managed waters to Category m. In 

 addition, the Service proposed to revise its listing of 

 the Category I, Alaska Peninsula salmon drift gillnet 

 fishery, keeping the South Unimak portion of the 

 fishery in Category I while placing the remainder of 

 the fishery in Category n. 



By letter of 17 August 1990, the Commission 

 commented on the proposed revisions. The Commis- 

 sion noted that it had not been consulted prior to 

 publication of the proposed changes as required by 

 section 1 14 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and 

 requested that such consultations be conducted as part 

 of future re-examinations of the list. 



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