110 



lieve the Elmdbetk C.J. had several sets in thai category, and he 

 managed to run them off very successfully. 



Once again, this may be a difference of skills of the parties in- 

 volved. I believe most of the vessels are equipped with a searchlight, 

 which they know how to use to direct the fish away from the back- 

 down area, so that they can effectively work. I think we may be 

 talking here about a learning curve or degree of skill among the 

 individual fishermen and this is one that can be resolved by train- 

 ing. 



Mr. Leggett. Now, you have certain captains, like Captain Jorge 

 and Captain Silva, who appear to be very good at catching tuna 

 and not injuring porpoises, and, as a result, you use them on some 

 of these studies. 



Likewise — have you identified certain captains and crews which 

 consistently do not perform well? 



Mr. Alversox. We have not identified such people that consistently 

 do not perform well, but on the basis of our cooperative observer 

 program with the National Marine Fishery Service last year, we 

 did identify seven captains, three on the outside of the CYRA, and 

 four that operated inside, that had mortalities significantly above 

 average, and this problem has been addressed by the Captains 

 Panel. The foundation analyzed all the trips that these seven captains 

 had participated on. 



We met in December and looked at certain criteria, kill per ton, 

 kill per set. The number of animals in the set and other factors, 

 and then individually looked at each captain's set log record, to 

 determine why these people had problems. 



We listed the reasons for the problems, and recommendations on 

 how to alleviate them, and have, since that time, started to contact 

 those captains to say : Look, here is why you had a problem, here is 

 wha you are going to have to do to resolve it. 



Now, thus far we have caught two of our skippers before the first 

 of the year, we are monitoring the fleet's activities to await the re- 

 turn of five more. 



In addition to looking at what the skipper's problems were, we 

 also analyse the trip's performance for mechanical problems and 

 things of that nature, which really fall in the making of the owner's 

 responsibility. 



In addition to contacting two skippers, we have contacted the 

 owners of two vessels with some suggestions as to how they could 

 help their captain reduce porpoise mortality. The suggestions have 

 been followed, and one of them was as simple, if you increase the 

 depth of your net by several strips, it would greatly increase the 

 volume of the net and this would make it a more effective fishing 

 on porpoises. 



It is our understanding that this year Mr. Enright made one set, 

 caught approximately 20 tons of fish, and I think its porpoise mor- 

 tality was one. It is a small sample, but it is a step in the right 

 direction. 



Ms. Prtor. When you say "we," are you talking about the Por- 

 poise Rescue Foundation? 



