NOAA 97-R122


CONTACT: Gordon Helm                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                        4/2/97

LARGE WHALE TAKE REDUCTION PLAN PROPOSED BY FISHERIES SERVICE
Related action restricts some lobster gear in critical habitat off Mass.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking input on a proposed plan to reduce encounters between large whales and several fisheries in U.S. waters off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

The fisheries service developed the proposed take reduction plan after receiving advice from a team of fishermen, specialists in marine mammal conservation, scientists, and federal and state managers. The team was established under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) process and was asked to consider and report on ways to reduce takes of northern right, humpback, minke, and fin whales in four U.S. fisheries: the new England sink gillnet fishery, the lobster trap/pot fishery in the Gulf of Maine and mid-Atlantic, the coastal gillnet fisheries in the mid-Atlantic, and the shark net fishery in the southeastern U.S. Atlantic.

Fisheries service officials believe that these measures, once implemented, will reduce the risk of large whale entanglement in the affected fisheries to levels that meet both 6-month and 5-year goals set by law for each marine mammal species.

"The MMPA requires us to develop a plan to reduce serious injuries and mortalities of these animals without placing undo hardship on fishermen" said Hilda Diaz-Soltero, acting director of the fisheries service's Office of Protected Resources.

The proposed plan applies the following measures to the gear and fisheries concerned:

  1. seasonal time/area restrictions on setting the gear in the Northern right whale critical habitats of Cape Cod Bay, the Great South Channel, the Florida/Georgia coastal corridor, and possibly the Jeffrey's Ledge/Stellwagen Bank areas;

  2. requiring gear modifications, such as using breakaway buoys, weak vertical lines, or sinking line, designed to allow whales to break through encountered gear or reduce the severity of an entanglement;

  3. improved response and assistance to entangled large whales;

  4. skipper workshops to increase awareness of fishing practices, responsibilities for marine mammals, and gear technology for take reduction.

In related emergency actions, the fisheries service is imposing a seasonal restriction (from April 1 until May 15) on lobster pot gear in Cape Cod Bay right whale critical habitat. This action is consistent with existing Massachusetts restrictions. Only certain pot gear types will be permitted during this period. The emergency action also prohibits the use of lobster pot gear in the Great South Channel right whale critical habitat from April 1 until June 30. Both actions are taken under the MMPA to implement the reasonable and prudent alternatives described in a biological opinion issued for the lobster fishery. These actions do not require public comment and are expected to affect fewer than 10 commercial fishermen.

Comments on the proposed take reduction plan must be received by May 15, 1997. Send comments to: Chief, Marine Mammal Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Copies of the draft Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team report and Environmental Assessment are available through the Office of Protected Resources, or by calling Sal Testaverde, Northeast Region-NMFS, 508-281-9368; Kathy Wang, Southeast Region-NMFS, 813-570-5312; or Michael Payne, Office of Protected Resources, 301-713-2322.

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Editors note: A fact sheet on specific proposed measures contained in the draft take reduction plan is available by calling the public affairs office at 301/713-2370.

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