Carter and others 



Chapter 27 



Mortality in Gill Nets 



Table 1 continued 



24 



'See figs. 3 and 4 for locations of statistical areas 

 These rivers reach the ocean in southeastern Alaska 

 'Includes areas 28, 29A-E in fig. 4 



Seabirds have been known to die in these fisheries for 

 some time, although there has been little documentation of 

 the degree of mortality (DeGange and others 1993, Speich 

 and Wahl 1989, Wahl 1981). Observer programs for marine 

 mammal bycatch in certain fisheries have been in place since 

 the 1970s, but there was little focus on seabirds. Speich and 

 Wahl (1989) reported that Western Grebes (Aechmophorus 

 occidentalis), Common Murres, and Marbled Murrelets were 

 frequently killed, based on reports by local fishermen (Speich, 

 pers. comm.; Wahl, pers. comm.). Because significant mortality 

 of murrelets was recorded in nearby Barkley Sound, British 

 Columbia (see above), it is reasonable to assume that murrelet 

 mortality occurs in Washington waters also. 



Marbled Murrelets occur throughout most of northern 

 Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands where the bulk of the 

 Washington breeding population occurs (Speich and others 

 1992; Speich and Wahl, this volume; Wahl and others 198 1 ). 

 Recent concern about the potential impacts of net fisheries 

 on Marbled Murrelets in Washington prompted the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Interior, NMFS, 

 and BIA to develop additional tribal and non-tribal fishery 

 observer programs in 1993 to better assess impacts to seabirds, 

 especially Marbled Murrelets (see U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service 1993b,c). Information on seabird mortality from 

 non-native fisheries in 1993 is just now becoming available, 

 whereas some 1993 data from tribal fisheries have not been 

 released. Below, we summarize what information is available 

 to date, as collated for the Marbled Murrelet Recovery Plan 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in press): 



Pacific Salmon Commission - In 1993, a test fishery 

 using monofilament gill nets was conducted at the south 

 entrance to the San Juan Islands (off San Juan and Lopez 

 islands) by the Pacific Salmon Commission, a Canadian- 

 based fisheries group (Craig and Cave 1994). Fishing occurred 

 between dusk and dawn from 23 June to 7 August. One 

 murrelet was caught on 4 July 1993 off Iceberg Point, Lopez 

 Island. Another murrelet was caught in a gill net during test 

 fishing in this area in 1990, but no other details were provided. 

 Most test fishing occurred further offshore than where most 

 murrelets were observed foraging. Thus, more murrelets 

 may be killed than indicated by this sample. A total of 64 

 Common Murres and 9 Rhinoceros Auklets also were killed 

 in 1993. A similar program will occur in 1994. 



Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife - In 1993, 

 a limited gill-net monitoring program for non-tribal fisheries 

 was conducted by WDFW in certain parts of Puget Sound 

 where high concentrations of seabirds occur but few murrelets. 

 A preliminary report is presented in a Biological Assessment 

 (WDFW 1994). No murrelets were encountered, but 42 dead 

 birds, mainly Common Murres, were recorded. A more 

 extensive program is planned for 1994. 



Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association - In 1993, two 

 Marbled Murrelets among about 50 seabirds were noted caught 

 during the Seabird Observer Program for the Non-Tribal 

 Purse Seine Fishery (Natural Resources Consultants 1993). 

 A total of 702 net sets were observed (about 3.9 percent of all 

 non-tribal purse seine effort) in many areas from the Canadian 

 border, through the San Juan Islands, to southern Puget Sound 



280 



USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-152. 1995. 



