MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



As indicated in Table 3, past incidental take levels 

 in commercial fisheries have been several times higher 

 than the calculated potential biological removal level. 

 In such cases, the Service is required to develop and 

 implement an incidental take reduction plan. In part, 

 these plans must set forth measures to reduce bycatch 

 below the potential biological removal level within six 

 months. Given particular concern for the Gulf of 

 Maine harbor porpoise stock, the 1994 amendments 

 specifically required that the Service implement a take 

 reduction plan no later than 1 April 1997. 



The 1994 amendments also required the Service 

 to establish take reduction teams to help develop and 

 review take reduction plans. Each team is to focus on 

 a marine mammal stock or group of stocks affected by 

 a particular fishery or related group of fisheries. 

 Teams are to be composed of representatives of 

 relevant fisheries, environmental groups, federal and 

 state agencies, and academia. Within six months of 

 being established, a team is to submit a recommended 

 take reduction plan to the Service that is agreeable to 

 all team members. Thereafter, teams are to meet 

 periodically and recommend needed improvements 

 until the goals of the take reduction plan are met. 



The Service established two take reduction teams 

 for Gulf of Maine harbor porpoises: a Gulf of Maine 

 team established on 12 February 1996 to address New 

 England gillnet fisheries and a mid-Atlantic team 

 established on 25 February 1997 for gillnet fisheries 

 between New York and North Carolina. Two teams, 

 rather than one, were established because, when the 

 Gulf of Maine team was formed, information was not 

 yet sufficient to develop bycatch estimates or take 

 reduction measures for the mid- Atlantic region. Also, 

 because of regional differences in target species, 

 gillnet fishing methods, participants, and the status of 

 efforts to address the problem, the Service determined 

 that it would be more efficient for separate teams to 

 develop take reduction measures for each area. 



As discussed in previous annual reports, the Gulf 

 of Maine team provided the Service a recommended 

 take reduction plan reflecting a consensus of its 

 members on 7 August 1996. It recommended a series 

 of time-area management zones in which gillnet 

 fishing would either be prohibited entirely or permit- 

 ted only if gillnets were equipped with pingers. It 



also recommended related research and management 

 actions for training fishermen in the use of pingers, 

 collecting and analyzing observer data, studying the 

 effects and effectiveness of pingers, and undertaking 

 certain other related tasks. Through these measures, 

 the team projected that the bycatch level in New 

 England would be reduced to 382 porpoises. 



At about the same time that the Gulf of Maine 

 team submitted its plan, the New England Fishery 

 Management Council proposed modifying the system 

 of time-area management zones for gillnet fishing in 

 New England. The changes, which were adopted by 

 the Service, made its system of time-area management 

 zones similar to that which the team recommended. 

 Although the Service is required to circulate and 

 implement a team's plan (with any changes the 

 Service deems appropriate) within six months of 

 receiving a plan, the Service apparently decided that 

 immediate action on the plan was unnecessary, given 

 its action on the Council's recommendation. Howev- 

 er, on 13 August 1997 the Service published a pro- 

 posed take reduction plan in the Federal Register that 

 was slightly less restrictive than the one recommended 

 by the team in August 1996. 



The mid-Atlantic team submitted its recommenda- 

 tions to the Service on 25 August 1997. Observer 

 data reviewed by the team suggested that bycatch rates 

 among New England gillnetters fishing in the mid- 

 Atlantic region in winter were substantially higher 

 than bycatch rates of local fishermen. This appeared 

 to be due to combinations of different gear charac- 

 teristics, such as twine diameter, mesh size, and the 

 number and length of nets. Therefore, to reduce 

 harbor porpoise bycatch off the mid- Atlantic states, 

 the team recommended a combination of fishery 

 closures, gear requirements {e.g., the use of nets with 

 certain twine diameters), and restrictions on the 

 number and length of nets. 



During the final four months of 1997 new infor- 

 mation indicated that the bycatch reduction measures 

 adopted in 1996 were ineffective, and the Service 

 extended the comment period on its August proposal 

 and sought further advice from the Gulf of Maine 

 team. In its 14 October 1997 comments to the 

 Service on the proposed plan, the Commission noted 

 that, given new information indicating a significant 



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