Chapter III — Species of Special Concern 



Second, the Commission suggested considering the 

 extent to which the measure may complement other 

 management actions. In this regard, it noted that, 

 while the petitioned action may not be feasible as an 

 isolated measure, it may be useful if done in conjunc- 

 tion with other existing or planned measures (e.g., 

 real-time notices to mariners on the location of 

 whales) to help vessel operators locate and avoid right 

 whales. 



Finally, the Commission suggested evaluating the 

 measure's merit in different geographic areas, given 

 right whale habitat use patterns and vessel traffic 

 patterns. For example, it suggested that approach 

 limits might be useful in high-use right whale habitats 

 or other areas where vessel interactions seem likely to 

 occur, but of little value in areas were the occurrence 

 of whales or ship traffic is negligible. Also, focusing 

 the approach in problematic areas could help heighten 

 operator awareness and caution in those areas. As of 

 the end of 1995 it was the Commission's understand- 

 ing that the Service was considering the publication of 

 proposed rules on the matter. 



Off the southeastern United States, efforts in 1995 

 continued to focus on the development of an early- 

 warning system to alert vessel operators of the loca- 

 tion of right whales during the winter calving season 

 off Georgia and northeast Florida. For the winter of 

 1995-1996, as in the previous winter, the Navy, the 

 Coast Guard, and the Army Corps of Engineers 

 initiated a program of daily aerial surveys beginning 

 1 December to obtain whale location data that can be 

 passed on to ships transiting the winter calving 

 grounds. The daily surveys, which are to continue 

 through 31 March 1996, cover waters within 15 miles 

 of the coast from a point about 10 miles north of 

 Brunswick, Georgia, to a point 10 miles south of the 

 St. Johns River in Florida. Whale locations are then 

 provided to operators of large vessels by the Coast 

 Guard through its Notices to Mariners as well as to 

 harbor pilots and the Navy. 



Southeast U.S. Implementation Team 

 for the Recovery of Right Whales 



The southeast implementation team includes 

 representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers, the 



Navy, the Coast Guard, the port of Fernandina Beach 

 (Florida), the Florida Department of Environmental 

 Protection, the Georgia Department of Natural Re- 

 sources, the Georgia Ports Authority, the Glynn 

 County (Georgia) Conservancy, the Jacksonville Port 

 Authority, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

 New England Aquarium, and the University of 

 Georgia. The team met twice in 1995 and, as in 

 previous years, it gave particular attention to develop- 

 ing and implementing the early-warning network to 

 alert vessel operators of recent right whale sighting 

 locations. 



For the 1995-1996 winter right whale season, the 

 team developed a set of recommended safe operating 

 procedures for large vessels transiting the right whale 

 calving grounds. The recommended measures offer 

 non-binding advice on posting observers aboard 

 transiting ships, communicating information to incom- 

 ing and outgoing ships on right whale sightings, 

 suggested actions for ships to take under alternative 

 right whale sighting scenarios, and the reporting of 

 right whale sightings by transiting ships. The recom- 

 mended procedures are intended for use by port 

 personnel participating under a voluntary partnership 

 agreement among team members. The team also 

 considered recommendations to restrict hazardous 

 fishing gear in portions of the right whale calving 

 grounds. Although the team did not offer specific 

 advice on the issue, it urged the agencies and groups 

 represented on the team to submit comments and 

 advice on appropriate restrictions to the Service. 



At its final meeting in 1995, the southeast imple- 

 mentation team also considered a recommendation to 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service to prohibit 

 gillnets from use in Federal portions of the right 

 whale calving grounds during the winter whale 

 season. The states of Georgia and Florida already 

 prohibit gillnets in State waters eliminating potential 

 entanglement threats from gillnets in those areas. The 

 team decided that rather than submitting a formal 

 recommendation in this regard to the Service, individ- 

 ual agencies represented on the team should provide 

 advice on the matter directly to the Service. As of the 

 end of 1995, the Commission was not aware of what 

 actions may have been taken or planned in this regard 

 by agencies represented on the team. 



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