NOAA 97-R149

Contact: Teri Frady or Gordon Helm          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
         Scott Smullen                      7/15/97

FEDERAL PLAN ANNOUNCED TO REDUCE LARGE WHALE ENTANGLEMENTS IN ATLANTIC LOBSTER AND GILLNET GEAR
Regulations are Interim, Public Comment Sought Through October

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials today announced details of a four-year plan to reduce entanglement of four large whale species, particularly the rare northern right whale, in lobster and gillnet gear off the U.S. Atlantic Coast. In many areas, the gear will have to be rigged to reduce risk to the whales. However, fishers can select from among a list of options (fact sheet available from contact upon request) for meeting the standards.

"This represents a major change in the way we intend to deal with large whales in the region," said Terry Garcia, acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA deputy administrator. "It will immediately reduce risks to the animals and sets up a cooperative public process for making gear decisions," he said. "Many fishers may already be using gear that meets the standards included in the rule. However, depending on how the gear is rigged and where it is set, some modification may be required. The goal was to develop a balanced approach -- one that protects the whales from gear entanglement while balancing the needs of the fishing community. This plan successfully achieves the balance."

In addition to measures that directly affect fishing, the plan also emphasizes several activities that are intended to decrease entanglements over the long term. These include improved monitoring of whale populations, routine public involvement in developing take reduction measures, use of a take reduction team to evaluate progress and a gear advisory group to evaluate gear improvements, and support for gear research.

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service also plans to expand its present disentanglement "first response" team. Recently, the New England team, including the Provincetown-based Center for Coastal studies, NMFS, and the U.S. Coast Guard, assisted by two fishing vessels, freed a right whale off Cape Cod from gear entangled around its head and mouth. "This was an excellent example of the kind of cooperative effort that we intend to support elsewhere in the region as part of this plan," says Garcia.

The rule is a revision of a controversial take reduction plan proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service in April. After making the proposal, the agency conducted 12 hearings on the plan in five states attended by more than 2500 persons, and received written comment and petitions from more than 13,000 persons and organizations. The plan announced today is substantially revised from the initial proposal, based on the constructive advice received by the agency.

"We made a proposal, we asked knowledgeable people how to improve it, we listened to what the public had to say, and altered the plan accordingly," Garcia said. "I would like to thank all the people who took the time to help us find a better way to protect right whales. I hope people will feel that it was worthwhile to get involved."

Because the final plan differs enough from the proposed plan, the regulations are interim and the agency will accept comment on them through Oct. 15, 1997. The interim regulations are effective Nov. 15, 1997. The gear modifications will be required beginning next January.

The rule requires that all lobster and sink gillnet gear will now have to be rigged so that the buoy line does not float at the surface of the water at anytime. The rule prohibits "wet storage" of lobster gear, which is the practice of leaving unbaited traps in the water rather than storing them on land. In addition, the gear must have some characteristics that reduce the risks associated with entanglement. Modifications are not required for gear deployed in coves and harbors. At least one modification from a list of acceptable options must be used if the gear is set in areas whales rarely use. At least two of the modifications are required if the gear is set in areas whales use more often. There are more specific requirements for gear when it is allowed in areas that have previously been declared "critical habitat" for right whales.

Critical habitat areas off Massachusetts and Georgia/Florida will be closed to some gear during times when whales are known to aggregate. There are no other closures specified, however, some kind of closure may eventually be required to protect whales if the entanglements continue to exceed legal limits.

To learn more about entanglements, gear marking will eventually be required on lobster and sink gillnet buoy lines. The plan does not require marking of groundlines at this time.

Progress under the plan will be monitored by comparing how the known rate of serious injury and mortalities attributed these fishing gears changes over the next five years.

The plan is required by 1994 amendments to the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act requires NMFS to develop, with public participation, take reduction plans. A plan is required for all fisheries that are known to occasionally or frequently entangle marine mammals in populations that are of biological concern.

This plan affects operations of Atlantic lobster pots and traps, anchored gillnets in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, coastal driftnets in the Mid-Atlantic, and the shark drift gillnet fishery in the Southeastern U.S.

The four whales protected in this plan are the Northern right, humpback, fin, and minke. All but the latter are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The plan is intended to reduce serious and fatal entanglements of Northern right whales by two-thirds by January of 1998. It also aims to reduce takes of all four large whales to insignificant levels by April of 2001.

"The law requires that serious injuries or deaths of large whales in commercial fishing gear be virtually eliminated by the year 2001, " said Garcia. "That is going to be a tough goal to meet and it will require a lot of work on the part of fishermen and the fisheries service. The plan we are publishing today is a first step in a cooperative effort to protect these spectacular animals."