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"fishery" from another in both its interim and proposed marine 

 mammal programs. 



The list of commercial fisheries used by NMFS in its marine 

 mammal program clearly does not correspond to the list of 

 fisheries used in its fishery management programs. "Fisheries" 

 are defined under the Magnuson Act. Exactly what criteria are 

 being used in the marine mammal programs, however, is not 

 explained. 



We also are concerned that commercial fisheries in different 

 parts of the country appear to be defined in inconsistent ways. 

 For example, the Atlantic Ocean fisheries described in the 

 current interim program are much less precise than those for the 

 Pacific Ocean. The result is that the interim program is 

 producing misleading descriptions of the marine mammal 

 interactions with commercial fisheries, and the relative 

 importance of the different interactions taking place in 

 different fisheries. 



This is particularly true for the Atlantic longline vessels 

 fishing for tuna, swordfish and sharks which are lumped together 

 in one broad category and which have been identified as one of 

 the top six problem fisheries for marine mammals. In fact, these 

 longline vessels fish in several different fisheries for 

 different fish, in different fishing areas, during different 

 seasons, and often with different gear and methods of operations. 



The yellowfin tuna fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, for 

 example, operates primarily during the daylight hours sometimes 

 using live-bait techniques. In the shark fisheries of the 

 Atlantic, on the other hand, a bottom fishing rig or cable of 



