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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 10
June 2009
NMFS seeks to reduce sea turtle bycatch in Atlantic trawl fisheries
SILVER SPRING, MD The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is gathering public comment on the next step in its gear-based strategy to reduce turtle bycatch in trawl fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
Although gillnets, longlines, traps, and pots were identified as “gear types that need to be addressed,” NMFS is moving forward with “trawl fisheries” as a priority.
The bycatch reduction strategy proposes a three-phase approach as follows, with Phase I being the immediate focus.
Trawl Phase I “will include” summer flounder, Atlantic sea scallop, whelk, calico scallop, and flynet fisheries for croaker and weakfish.
Trawl Phase II “will likely include” sheepshead/black drum/king whiting, porgy, skimmer, Spanish sardine/scad/ladyfish/butterfish, trynet, squid/mackerel/butterfish, and large- and small-mesh multispecies; and
Trawl Phase III “will likely include” skate, horseshoe crab, monkfish, bluefish, spiny dogfish, and herring trawl fisheries.
NMFS emphasized that “some fisheries in Phase II may move to Phase III or visa versa” as the agency develops and tests appropriate turtle excluder device (TED) technologies for each fishery.
TEDs have effectively minimized sea turtle bycatch in the shrimp and summer flounder trawl fisheries, but NMFS said further testing might prove that TEDs aren’t appropriate for all fisheries. In those cases, the agency will consider “other mitigation measures, such as time and area closures or tow time restrictions.”
All sea turtles that occur in US waters are listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and incidental catch in fisheries “is a primary factor hampering” sea turtle recovery, said NMFS.
The three-phase strategy will be further outlined in an environmental impact statement (EIS), and any resulting regulations will be implemented under the ESA.
Scoping meetings
In a May 8 Federal Register notice, NMFS announced its intent to prepare the EIS and collect public comment about the document’s potential breadth.
NMFS held the first scoping meeting on May 15 in Silver Spring. Other meetings were scheduled for: June 9 in New York City; June 15 in Brunswick, GA; June 20 in Manteo, NC; and June 23 in Portland, ME.
The New York and Maine scoping meetings were scheduled in conjunction with Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Council meetings.
For more information on the scoping meetings or the EIS process, contact: Pat Scida, phone (978) 281-9208, e-mail <Pasquale.Scida@noaa.gov>; Dennis Klemm, phone (727) 824-5312, e-mail <Dennis.Klemm@noaa.gov>; or Alexis Gutierrez, phone (301) 713-2322, e-mail <Alexis.Gutierrez@noaa.gov>.
The comment deadline is July 10. The scoping document is available online at <www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/regulations.htm>. /cfn/
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