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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 1
September 2009
NMFS proposes more harbor porpoise rules
GLOUCESTER, MA - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has identified noncompliance with existing regulations as its reason for proposing new, beefed-up rules to keep harbor porpoise out of gillnets and reduce the number of porpoises killed as a result of encounters with fishing gear.
In late July, NMFS published a 19-page Federal Register notice proposing measures to: expand when and where pingers – acoustic net alarms – are required on gillnets off New England; add new seasonal management measures off New Jersey; and define areas that would be closed to gillnetters if harbor porpoise bycatch within them gets too high.
The public comment period on the proposed rule closed on Aug. 20.
“The measures … address the two primary causes of a recent increase in the number of harbor porpoise killed annually in Northeast gillnets – noncompliance with current management measures and increased bycatch in places where measures to prevent it are not currently required,” NMFS said.
Gillnetters have had to use pingers seasonally off New England since 1998. The pingers emit sounds that the porpoise avoid, keeping the animals away from the nets.
“However,” NMFS said, “some fishermen are either not using them when and where they are required or are not using them properly, reducing their overall effectiveness as a deterrent.”
In 2006, the NMFS Northeast Region’s Protected Resources Division conducted a series of outreach meetings with fishermen from Maine to North Carolina to try to explain the need for compliance with pinger rules.
At that point, fishery managers had seen a significant uptick in porpoise takes in the gillnet fishery. While harbor porpoise are not considered endangered – the Northeast population stands at an estimated 89,000 animals – they are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, which mandates that the federal government set strict limits on the number that can be taken each year.
Area proposals
According to NMFS, the most significant measures proposed for New England would require pinger use over more fishing areas and for longer periods of time.
The proposed rule also defines new areas where bycatch has been high in recent years. If future bycatch exceeds certain levels, these areas would be closed to gillnetting for two to three months.
“However,” NMFS said, “expanded and more consistent use of pingers should reduce bycatch significantly.”
In the Mid-Atlantic, proposed measures include the creation of a new management area off the coast of New Jersey, encompassing waters where high bycatch has been observed in recent years.
The area would be closed to gillnetting from Feb. 1 to March 15 annually. Fishermen also would have to modify their gear to reduce the risk of bycatch in this area during those weeks between Jan. 1 and April 30 when gillnetting was allowed.
Explanation
In explaining the need for the proposed rule, NMFS noted that gillnetters operating in Northeast waters already use pingers, modify their gear, and deal with special management areas to reduce the risk of harming harbor porpoises.
“Because of these efforts, the number of animals killed in Northeast gillnets declined from more than 1,500 per year to just a few hundred per year between 1999 and 2003,” the agency said.
In 2003, however, bycatch numbers started to increase, and about 1,000 animals were estimated to have been killed in Northeast gillnets in 2006, the most recent year for which there is data.
NMFS met with its harbor porpoise take reduction team (TRT) at the end of 2007 and early in 2008 to discuss ways to reverse the increasing trend in harbor porpoise bycatch. The team currently has about 40 members, including gillnet fishermen, environmentalists, federal and state fisheries officials, and marine mammal scientists.
The proposed rule is a result of the TRT meetings.
“The harbor porpoise team’s goal is to reduce serious injuries and mortalities of harbor porpoises from interactions with gillnets to just a few dozen animals annually,” NMFS said.
More info online
More information is available online at the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) web site at <www.nefsc.noaa.gov>. Click on “Press” and select “NEFSC Press Releases.” Then select “NOAA Proposes More Ways to Reduce Capture of Harbor Porpoises in Northeast Gillnet Fisheries.”
On that page are links to the proposed rule, figures that describe the New England management area closure proposals, and figures that show the Mid-Atlantic area management closure and gear restriction proposals.
For more information, call Amanda Johnson at (978) 282-8463 or e-mail her at <amada.johnson@noaa.gov>. /cfn/
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