Chapter V — International 
ten months after each fishing season, provide a 
summary of the numbers of each individual species 
counted by observers on the monitored portion of each 
respective driftnet fishery. Because the counts do not 
include unseen animals that drop out of nets dead dur- 
ing the retrieval process or that escape mortally 
injured while the net is deployed, the reported counts 
are lower than the actual catch by some unknown 
amount. 
Tables 11 and 12 include data from the driftnet 
monitoring reports for the 1989 to 1991 fishing 
seasons. Table 11 includes results from the monitor- 
ing programs for the large-mesh driftnet fisheries of 
Japan and Taiwan for tuna and certain other large 
fishes in 1990 and 1991. Table 12 includes results 
from the monitoring programs for the squid driftnet 
fisheries of Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of 
Korea. No monitoring programs were planned or 
carried out with any driftnet fishing nation in 1992 
because of the actions calling for a halt in large-scale 
pelagic driftnet fishing initially after 30 June 1992, 
but later deferred until after 31 December 1992 (see 
discussion below). 
Results from the 1990 and 1991 monitoring pro- 
grams with Taiwan and the Republic of Korea were 
greatly compromised because of inconsistencies in 
data collection between observer teams from the Unit- 
ed States and those from Taiwan and Korea, respec- 
tively. The problems arose because of the limited 
ability of non-U.S. observers to accurately identify 
many of the animals caught and a resulting difference 
in the way catch data were recorded. As a result, the 
authors of the reports considered it inappropriate to 
combine catch data collected by U.S. observers with 
that collected by observers from Taiwan or Korea and 
each is presented separately in monitoring reports. 
Because of the difficulties, only data collected by U.S. 
observers are presented in Tables 11 and 12. 
The monitoring reports prepared under the agree- 
ments do not extrapolate results to the entire driftnet 
fleet of any nation. For example, reports on the 1989 
and 1990 Japanese squid driftnet monitoring programs 
provide catch data only for that portion of Japan’s 
squid driftnet fleet actually observed (about four 
percent and 12 percent, respectively). Neither do the 
monitoring reports combine or compare data with 
129 
driftnet catch data from other fishing nations, nor do 
they include data on overall fleet driftnet fishing 
effort. As a result, they do not provide an overall 
assessment of the catch levels by driftnet fishing ves- 
sels for any target or bycatch species, and it is diffi- 
cult to extrapolate results to do so. 
Even in the absence of such analyses, however, the 
magnitude of the take reported by the monitoring 
programs clearly justifies fears that driftnet fishing 
poses a significant threat to stocks of many species 
and that it may well disrupt fundamental relationships 
among important components of pelagic as well as 
coastal ecosystems. 
Data Evaluation 
In the absence of reliable information on the catch 
and bycatch of driftnet fisheries in the North Pacific 
Ocean, the Driftnet Impact Monitoring, Assessment, 
and Control Act of 1987 required the development of 
driftnet monitoring programs capable of developing 
Statistically reliable assessments of the numbers of 
each species killed by each nation’s driftnet fleet. As 
discussed in previous annual reports, the Marine 
Mammal Commission provided advice to the Depart- 
ments of Commerce and State to ensure that this 
provision was met. 
To provide the most informed basis possible for 
addressing the issue internationally, the Commission 
also recommended on 26 October 1990 that the State 
Department and the National Marine Fisheries Service 
jointly assess the adequacy of available data on the 
catch of driftnet fisheries in the North Pacific Ocean 
and that a regional review by international experts of 
driftnet fishing impacts be held in the spring of 1991. 
Concerning the latter point, the Commission recom- 
mended that the review examine: (1) available at-sea 
sighting data; (2) the extent of the ranges of target and 
non-target species taken by driftnet fisheries; (3) the 
biological and population data related to those species; 
and (4) data and information on the impacts of driftnet 
fishing on affected stocks. 
These points were subsequently addressed during 
an 11-14 June 1991 regional review of North Pacific 
Ocean driftnet fisheries hosted by the Canadian 
Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Sidney, British 
