Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



level of bycatch in the mid-Atlantic region and re- 

 quirements to reduce the total bycatch throughout the 

 stock's range to below the potential biological removal 

 level within six months, it was highly unlikely that 

 measures proposed more than a year earlier for the 

 Gulf of Maine would be sufficient. Therefore the 

 Commission recommended that the Service immedi- 

 ately reexamine its proposed plan in light of new 

 bycatch data and either (1) develop a separate emer- 

 gency rule to implement bycatch reduction measures 

 for the 1998 winter-spring gillnetting fishing season in 

 the mid-Atlantic region concurrent with implementing 

 new measures for the New England area, or (2) 

 modify the proposed take reduction measures for New 

 England to further reduce bycatch off New England 

 by an amount that would compensate for expected 

 bycatch levels in the mid-Atlantic region. 



The Gulf of Maine take reduction team, which 

 includes a representative of the Marine Mammal 

 Commission, met on 16-17 December 1997 to consid- 

 er new information on the bycatch of harbor porpoises 

 and further take reduction measures. As of the end of 

 1997, the team had not yet forwarded the results of its 

 meeting and the Service had taken no further steps to 

 implement its proposed take reduction plan for New 

 England waters or to act on recommendations by the 

 mid-Atlantic team for take reduction measures off the 

 mid- Atlantic states. 



Developments in 1998 



On 14 January 1998 a report on the Gulf of 

 Maine team's December 1997 meeting was sent to the 

 Service. Because many fishermen were unable to 

 attend, the report did not reflect a consensus of its 

 members. However, those present concluded that 

 information on bycatch levels made available since its 

 previous meeting in mid- 1996 indicated that take 

 reduction goals were not being met and that the 

 team's August 1996 recommended plan as modified 

 by the Service in August 1997 was unlikely to reduce 

 bycatch levels below the potential biological removal 

 level. An alternative system of time-area management 

 zones was discussed, but, in the absence of several 

 representatives of the fishing industry, no recommen- 

 dations were put forward. 



Based on the comments received and further 

 deliberation, the Service developed a new harbor por- 

 poise take reduction plan proposal. In the interim, no 

 action was taken to implement any harbor porpoise 

 take reduction measures for the mid-Atlantic region or 

 to modify the New England system of time-area 

 management zones for harbor porpoises last amended 

 in 1996. As a related matter, however, the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, at the recommendation of 

 the New England Fishery Management Council, 

 adopted additional time-area fishery closures off New 

 England to prevent overfishing on a collapsing cod 

 stock in the Gulf of Maine. The new closures were 

 published in the Federal Register on 31 March 1998 

 and became effective on 1 May 1998. They include 

 some areas where harbor porpoise bycatch rates have 

 been high and, as a result, were expected to coinci- 

 dentally reduce harbor porpoise bycatch. 



On 11 September 1998 the Service published a 

 new proposed harbor porpoise take reduction plan in 

 the Federal Register replacing its August 1997 propos- 

 al. The new plan proposed take reduction measures 

 for both New England and the mid-Atlantic region. 



For the New England area, the new plan pro- 

 posed a complex system of expanded time-area 

 management zones that overlaid other time-area 

 closures previously adopted to conserve fish stocks 

 and to reduce entanglement of right whales. The new 

 time-area management zones for harbor porpoise 

 substantially expanded the areas in which fishing with 

 pingers would be required. Given the closures and 

 assuming that pingers would reduce porpoise bycatch 

 by 80 percent compared to fishing without pingers, 

 the Service predicted that bycatch levels in New 

 England would be reduced from an average of 1,883 

 porpoises per year between 1990 and 1995 to 309 

 harbor porpoises per year. 



For the mid-Atlantic area, the Service proposed 

 the closures and gear requirements recommended by 

 the mid-Atlantic take reduction team in its August 

 1997 report. These measures included a complex set 

 of restrictions that varied depending on the location of 

 the fishing activity and whether the mesh size is 

 greater or less than seven inches. The restrictions set 

 limits on the number and length of nets and the 



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