Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



On 3 December 1998 the Marine Mammal Com- 

 mission wrote to commend the Coast Guard for its 

 efforts to secure approval of the proposal by the IMO 

 subcommittee and to recommend that it place a high 

 priority on obtaining approval by the Maritime Safety 

 Committee. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration officials attending the 

 meeting did so and, on 7 December 1998, the com- 

 mittee adopted the proposal unanimously. The 

 committee's meeting report called for implementing 

 the reporting system by 1 July 1999 and conducting a 

 review of its effectiveness within three to five years. 

 Recognizing concerns about the possible proliferation 

 of ship reporting systems to protect individual species, 

 the report expressed the committee's view that such 

 systems may be warranted to protect individual 

 species when there is clear evidence of direct physical 

 impacts from ships on that species, the impacts 

 constitute the species' greatest known threat, the 

 species is in imminent danger of extinction, and the 

 affected area is essential habitat through which major 

 shipping routes pass. 



To clarify domestic authority for the mandatory 

 ship reporting system, the U.S. Congress also amend- 

 ed section 1 1 of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. 

 The amendment, included in the Coast Guard Authori- 

 zation Act of 1998 passed in December, provides the 

 Coast Guard with explicit authority to implement and 

 enforce the mandatory ship reporting system in 

 cooperation with the IMO. 



At the end of 1998 the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration and the Coast Guard 

 were developing arrangements to implement the ship 

 reporting system by 1 July 1999. 



Ship Collision-Related Research — Early in 1998 

 the Marine Mammal Commission learned that a high- 

 speed catamaran had been purchased to replace a 

 conventional ferry that ran between Bar Harbor, 

 Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The new ferry, 

 scheduled to begin operating in June 1998, was to run 

 at speeds of up to 42 knots (48 miles per hour) across 

 the Gulf of Maine through waters used by right 

 whales to reach preferred feeding and nursery areas in 

 the Bay of Fundy . Some right whales also occasional- 

 ly feed in waters along the ferry route. Given the 

 vessel's speed and its operation during periods of poor 



visibility {e.g., in fog or at night), concern was raised 

 in both the United States and Canada that it would not 

 always be possible to avoid whales. Concern also was 

 raised about the vessel's engine noise and its effect on 

 whale distribution and movements. 



Neither U.S. nor Canadian vessel certification 

 requirements involve an assessment of environmental 

 impacts associated with routine vessel operation. 

 However, given plans for the new ferry and similar 

 plans to introduce other high-speed vessels off New 

 England, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

 Northeast Implementation Team, the Stellwagen Bank 

 National Marine Sanctuary, and the New England 

 Aquarium jointly convened a workshop on 1 1 May 

 1998 to review plans for new high-speed vessels, their 

 possible effects on whales, and related research needs. 

 In response to concerns about possible effects on 

 whales, the Canadian company operating the Bar 

 Harbor- Yarmouth ferry voluntarily contracted for 

 research and monitoring studies to help assess the risk 

 of interactions between whales and the new ferry. 

 The studies included placing a trained whale observer 

 aboard the vessel to assess the crew's ability to detect 

 and avoid whales, and a study to assess noise levels 

 produced by the ferry. 



On 6 July 1998 the Commission commented to the 

 ferry operator's contractor on its research efforts. 

 The letter commended the constructive efforts being 

 taken by the ferry operator and the contractor to 

 examine the issue and suggested that they consult with 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service and other 

 agencies to design and carry out certain complementa- 

 ry studies to improve the ability to evaluate the 

 research results. The letter also suggested establishing 

 a protocol of steps to be followed in the event a whale 

 is known or thought to have been struck {e.g., report- 

 ing the accident to officials and making efforts to 

 verify the species and condition of the animal). The 

 letter also expressed serious doubt that the ferry 

 operator would be able to detect and avoid any right 

 whales when traveling at the high speeds at which the 

 ferry would operate, particularly given the frequency 

 of dense fog and severe weather along the route. 



The Commission also wrote to the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service on 10 July sending a copy of its 

 comments to the contractor and offering related 



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