Contact: Gordon Helm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 6/26/95
Proposed rule changes would reduce some regulatory requirements for fishermen while strengthening rules protecting marine mammals during commercial fishing operations, the Commerce Departmentūs National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
The proposed rule by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service would replace interim regulations that were extended when Congress reauthorized the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in 1994. The interim regulations are set to expire Sept. 1, 1995.
Daily log book requirements would be dropped, fishermen could be authorized to incidentally take endangered or threatened marine mammals under both the MMPA and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and fewer commercial fishermen would be required to register under the proposed rule changes and the current proposed list of fisheries. At the same time, the fisheries service could better focus its efforts on commercial fisheries that pose a greater risk to marine mammals by evaluating the impact a fishery has on a specific stock.
The fisheries service is proposing that commercial fisheries be reclassified according to their annual effect on marine mammal stocks. The new fishery classification provides three categories based on the number of fishery-related serious injuries and mortalities to marine mammals as compared to the Potential Biological Removal (PBR). PBR is defined as the maximum number of animals that may be removed from a marine mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population.
The three proposed categories include:
Category I: A fishery that has frequent incidental mortality and
serious injury of marine mammals. (Where marine mammal
mortality or injury is greater than or equal to 50
percent of any marine mammal stockūs PBR.)
Category II: A fishery that has occasional incidental mortality and
serious injury of marine mammals. (Where marine mammal
mortality or serious injury is more than 10 percent of
any marine mammal stockūs PBR; or a fishery that, by
itself, is responsible for less than or equal to one
percent of any marine mammal stockūs PBR.)
Category III: A fishery that has a remote likelihood of, or no known
incidental mortality or serious injury of, marine
mammals. (Where marine mammal mortality or injury is
less than or equal to 10 percent of any marine mammal
stockūs PBR; or a fishery that, by itself, is
responsible for less than or equal to one percent of
any marine mammal stockūs PBR.)
Pursuant to the 1994 amendments to the MMPA, the proposed rule would revise fishery registration and reporting procedures. Commercial fishermen participating in Category I or II fisheries would be required to register with the fisheries service, pay an annual registration fee of approximately $30, and display a current decal. All commercial fishermen, regardless of category, would be required to submit a report to the fisheries service, within 48 hours of the end of each fishing trip, if they have injured or killed a marine mammal incidentally in the course of fishing.
In addition to the authorization certificate that allows fishermen to incidentally take non-ESA listed marine mammals that would be issued under the proposed regulations, the 1994 MMPA amendments also allow the fisheries service to authorize the takes of endangered or threatened marine mammals during commercial fishing operations. The fisheries service can only grant such authorization for fisheries that have less than a ūnegligible impactū on these stocks, and is specifically requesting comments on those fisheries that have takes of species listed under the ESA, and on the magnitude of the takes. A list of fisheries that interact with threatened and endangered stocks of marine mammals is included in the proposed rule (60 FR 31666, June 16, 1995).
The 1994 amendments to the MMPA also imposed a seven-year deadline for all fisheries to ūreduce incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals to insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate.ū The fisheries service includes a definition for attainment of this goal in the proposed regulations.
Interested members of the public are invited to review and comment on the fisheries service proposal. Comments on the proposed regulations and the interactions between commercial fisheries and ESA-listed stocks must be received by July 31, 1995. Comments on the proposed list of fisheries must be received by September 14, 1995. Forward comments to: Chief, Marine Mammal Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226
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The hearings on the proposed rule and the proposed list of fisheries will be held as follows:
1. Wednesday, June 28, 1995, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. -- King's Grant
Inn, Route 128 at Trask Lane, Danvers, MA 01923
2. Thursday, July 6, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. -- Forsythe
National Wildlife Refuge Auditorium, Gray Creek Road (off Route
9), Oceanville, NJ 08230
3. Monday, July 10, 1995, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. -- 1325 East-West
Highway, Bldg. SSMC2, Rm. 2358, Silver Spring, MD 20910
4. Wednesday, July 12, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. -- Carousel
Hotel and Resort, 118th Street and Coastal Highway, Ocean City,
MD 21842
5. Wednesday, July 12, 1995, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. --Renaissance
Hotel, 111 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90802
6. Wednesday, July 12, 1995, 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. -- Holiday
Inn, 3845 Veteran's Highway, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
7. Tuesday, July 18, 1995, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon -- Federal
Building, Tlingit Room (1st floor), 222 West 7th Avenue,
Anchorage, AK 99513
8. Wednesday, July 19, 1995, 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. -- Duke
University Marine Lab Auditorium, Pivers Island Rd., Beaufort,
NC 28516
9. Wednesday, July 19, 1995, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. -- 7600 Sand
Point Way, N.E., Building 9 Auditorium, Seattle, WA 98115.