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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 2
October 2006
Harbor porpoise takes prompt NMFS outreach
GLOUCESTER, MA – After years of being an example of how gear modifications can solve marine mammal problems, the Northeast gillnet fishery has posted a worrisome increase in the number of harbor porpoise takes.
The situation has prompted the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Region’s Protected Resources Division to schedule a series of outreach meetings from Maine to North Carolina starting in early October.
The meetings will be aimed at making sure that fishermen understand pinger, closed area, and net limit requirements.
“We’re trying to take a new approach,” said David Gouveia, marine mammal coordinator for the Northeast Region. “We’re trying to work more efficiently with the fishermen.”
Gouveia explained that harbor porpoise takes dropped significantly after the adoption of the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) in 1998. However, a recent analysis of observer data from 2004 to the present showed not only an increase in takes in the commercial gillnet fishery but a lack of compliance with HPTRP regulations.
In a Sept. 7 letter to permit holders, NMFS said that reports filed by observers on vessels in the Gulf of Maine indicated that gillnetters weren’t using pingers properly or, in some cases, weren’t using pingers at all.
Further examination of vessel trip reports also indicated that some gillnetters were fishing in harbor porpoise protection areas at times when the use of gillnets was prohibited. A specific example offered was the month of March in the Massachusetts Bay Closure Area.
In the Mid-Atlantic, the lack of compliance primarily had to do with gillnetters using more than the allowed number of nets per string.
A few statistics
Gouveia readily acknowledged that one of the reasons harbor porpoise takes have gone up could have something to do with the fact that the population appears to be in pretty good shape.
“This is not a dire situation like the right whale,” he said.
However, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires NMFS to set strict limits on mammal takes and, despite the early success of the HPTRP, the take trend is now headed in the wrong direction.
Between 1994 and 1998, the mean annual number of harbor porpoises taken in the gillnet fishery was 1,163 animals, with some analysts suggesting it might have gone as high in a single year as 1,600. Under the MMPA, the potential biological removal (PBR) level – the maximum take allowed – was 483 animals.
Following implementation of the take reduction plan, “we were pretty successful in reducing the take to about 300 animals,” Gouveia said.
Because the stock was able to grow, the PBR went up to 747 animals following the 2001 stock assessment, he explained. But the long-term goal under the MMPA, meaning five years after implementation of the take reduction plan, is an actual take closer to 10% of PBR.
The plan is now eight years old and instead of takes heading down toward around 75 a year, they’re creeping up, and concern is growing over what the next stock assessment will show when it is finalized next year.
If the industry can’t come into compliance with the regs and bring the takes down, experienced industry representatives warn there will be more and harsher regs down the road.
“Changes don’t work if people won’t make them and that could result in more prohibitive regulations,” said Greg DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association. “People who don’t comply can have a huge impact on people who do.”
Who’s affected?
According to Gouveia, NMFS has pinpointed compliance and take problems in two specific areas: Massachusetts Bay around Jeffreys Ledge and off of New Jersey.
“After a lull in fishing, some New Hampshire and Massachusetts fishermen are starting to go to New Jersey to fish for monkfish,” Gouveia said. “We want to make sure they’re aware of what the regulations are down there.”
Fishermen also need to be aware that, unlike federal fishery management plans, HPTRP regulations apply in state as well as federal waters.
“It goes all the way to the beach,” Gouveia said.
So even though there are only about 300 vessels in the federal gillnet fishery, there are closer to 10,000 vessels registered as using gillnet gear in state and federal databases.
The HPTRP requires all gillnetters to go through pinger training and certification in order to be able to use the devices and fish in areas where pingers are required.
Pingers, which emit sounds that deter the harbor porpoise from the gear, must be attached at the end of each gillnet string and at the bridle of every net that makes up the string.
In addition to getting an overview of the current HPTRP management areas and requirements and having an opportunity to pick up laminated outlines of the regulations, fishermen will have the opportunity to participate in a pinger refresher and/or certification course at each outreach meeting.
The Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association office in Chatham is the site of a harbor porpoise meeting scheduled for Nov. 9. Eric Brazer Jr., manager of the fledging Georges Bank Cod Fixed Gear Sector, which is made up of about 20 local gillnetters, said his group appreciated the NMFS outreach effort.
“We have a progressive fleet that is willing to step up and be accountable,” he said. “We’re willing to have a dialogue with NMFS to fix a problem. The more they can do to streamline the flow of information to the fishermen, the better.”
More information
For a list of the outreach meetings scheduled as of mid-September, see Coming Events on page 26B. Meeting times and locations, along with extensive information on HPTRP requirements is available online at <www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/porptrp>.
For more info, call any of these Protected Resources Division staffers: Amanda Johnson, (978) 281-9300, ext. 6513; New England industry liaison John Higgins, (207) 677-2316; or Mid-Atlantic industry liaison Glenn Salvador at (757) 414-0128.
Lorelei Stevens
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