NMFS has been investigating new gear designs and ship maneuvers 

 to be used in the eastern Pacific yellowfin tuna fisheries. 



Devices found to reduce mortalities and injuries from entrapment 

 include porpoise safety panels of smaller than normal mesh and 

 torque-balance cables that prevent net rollups during fishing 

 operations. The use of speedboats to hold nets open and prevent net 

 collapse and refinement of the backdown maneuver help to reduce 

 mortalities further. Interim regulations, effective on April 1, 1973, 

 governing the taking of marine mammals incidental to commercial 

 fishing operations require the adoption of these and other techniques 

 and require commercial fishermen in general to release marine 

 mammals unharmed whenever possible. NMFS is conducting 

 additional studies on new tapered purse-seine nets that provide 

 greater swimming area and on the use of differential current meters 

 to aid in preventing net mishaps. Results of gear testing indicate a 

 significant reduction of porpoise mortalities is possible by the use of 

 newly designed gear and fishing maneuvers. 



NMFS is conducting research to assess the impact of porpoise 

 mortalities on the total population. This work includes life history 

 and stock assessment programs as well as the observer program, 

 which places personnel aboard commercial tuna vessels to collect 

 data. To assist in the protection of large whales, NMFS is attempting 

 to develop an independent means for the analysis of catch statistics 

 and the assessment of stocks. 



St. George Island in the Pribilof Islands has been established as a 

 research control area to compare changes in the behavior, population 

 dynamics, and interactions of an unharvested population of 

 northern fur seals with those of the harvested population on St. Paul 

 Island. The feeding habits, availability of food, range, and other 

 environmental factors that may effect the survival of fur seals will 

 be intensively studied in the Bering Sea. 



The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides for the conservation, 

 protection, restoration, and propagation of threatened and 

 endangered species of fish, wildlife, and plants. The Departments of 

 Commerce and Interior will have jurisdiction over species currently 

 listed and will investigate to determine whether other possibly 

 threatened or endangered species, such as marine reptiles and 

 tropical fish, should be listed. 



The Endangered Species Act of 1973 differs from previous acts by 

 covering the importation and taking of species, and by allowing a. 

 species to be listed if it is threatened locally, i.e., in part of its range. 

 States are being encouraged to develop and maintain endangered 

 species conservation programs through cooperative agreements 

 with the Federal Government. 



The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Sport Fisheries and 

 Wildlife (BSFWj studies inshore marine and estuarine ecosystems to 



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