MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1998 



studies. It also called for increased efforts to detect 

 and disentangle whales. It did not strengthen the 

 time-area fishing closures for designated critical 

 habitats beyond those in its April proposal. A more 

 detailed description of these developments is included 

 in the Commission's annual report for 1997. At the 

 end of 1998, the Service was preparing a final rule to 

 implement its take reduction plan and a meeting of the 

 Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team was 

 scheduled to review recent Service actions. Some of 

 the actions taken in 1998 are briefly described below. 



Research on Fishing Gear Designs — To identify 

 and develop fishing gear less likely to entangle 

 whales, the Service formed a gear advisory group in 

 1997. Based on its recommendations the Service 

 provided approximately $130,000 for a series of 

 studies in 1998. Most studies were directed toward 

 designing gillnets and lobster gear from which whales 

 might break free and thereby avoid injuries and deaths 

 associated with lengthy periods of entanglement. 

 They included studies to identify the components of 

 fishing gear most likely to entangle whales, the parts 

 of a whale's anatomy most likely to become entangled 

 and how this occurs, the profiles of line and other 

 gear components in the water, the breaking strength of 

 various gear components currently in use, the mini- 

 mum breaking strength necessary for those compo- 

 nents to function effectively in different fishing 

 situations, the forces that whales of different sizes 

 might exert against those gear components if they 

 became entangled, and possible designs and applica- 

 tions for weak links that would allow gear to function 

 properly while also increasing the ability of whales to 

 escape unentangled. Other approaches being consid- 

 ered include the use of degradable line and designs for 

 remote acoustical release buoy systems that would 

 keep gear marking buoys at the bottom until the gear 

 is ready to be retrieved. 



As of the end of 1998 some promising approaches 

 had been identified for further field testing. 



Disentanglement Efforts — Using techniques 

 developed in Canada to disentangle humpback whales, 

 a team of scientists with the Center for Coastal 

 Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts, began 

 attempts to disentangle right whales early in the 

 1990s. To date the team has disentangled four right 



whales, one of which, as noted above, was disentan- 

 gled three times during 1998 (see Figure 2). To 

 expand such capabilities to areas other than southern 

 New England, the Service's take reduction plan called 

 for purchasing additional disentanglement equipment, 

 training other entanglement response teams, and 

 holding a series of outreach workshops for fishermen. 



For these purposes, the Service provided approxi- 

 mately $145,000 in 1998. The outreach workshops 

 conducted in 1998 were held principally in Maine. 

 They sought commitments from fishermen to promptly 

 report observations of entangled whales and, if 

 possible, to remain with the animals until a disentan- 

 glement team arrived. The workshops were well 

 attended, and plans are being made to hold additional 

 workshops in other east coast states. Disentanglement 

 equipment is being purchased for placement at strate- 

 gic locations and arrangements have been made with 

 the Coast Guard to transport disentanglement teams at 

 a moment's notice to rescue any right whale reported 

 as entangled. 



Time-Area Fishery Management Measures — As 



noted above, the Service's interim final take reduction 

 plan includes time-area fishing restrictions for each of 

 the three critical habitats designated for right whales 

 along the U.S. east coast. These areas include Cape 

 Cod Bay and the Great South Channel off Massachu- 

 setts and the calving grounds off Florida and Georgia. 



Regulations for the Cape Cod Bay critical habitat 

 close the entire area to gillnet fishing from 1 January 

 through 31 May. This period includes the peak 

 period of right whale occurrence in the bay. Lobster 

 fishing during this period is permitted subject to 

 certain gear design requirements, such as stringing at 

 least four traps to each buoy and using a weak link 

 between the buoy and buoy line that would detach 

 when pulled with a force of 1,100 pounds or greater. 



For the Great South Channel, the entire critical 

 habitat is closed to lobster fishing from 1 April to 30 

 June, which is the peak period of right whale occur- 

 rence in that area. Gillnet fishing also is prohibited 

 during this period in most of the critical habitat; 

 however, the principal gillnet fishing area within the 

 critical habitat — an area along its western boundary 

 — is open to fishing provided that gillnets meet 



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