Contact: Gordon Helm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 8/31/95
Regulations governing interactions between marine mammals and commercial fisheries have been finalized, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. The regulatory changes will reduce some requirements for fishermen while strengthening rules protecting marine mammals during commercial fishing operations.
The final regulations issued by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service will replace interim regulations that were extended when Congress reauthorized the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in 1994. The new regulations take effect on Sept. 1, 1995.
Commercial fishermen are authorized to incidentally take marine mammals as long as they comply with the new regulations. Fishermen in certain fisheries must register under the MMPA, and all fishermen must report incidental takes of marine mammals within 48 hours after returning to port if a marine mammal was taken during a fishing trip.
The fisheries service will categorize commercial fisheries according to their incidental annual effect on marine mammal stocks. This new classification system is based on the number of fishery-related serious injuries and mortalities to marine mammals as compared to a marine mammal stock's Potential Biological Removal (PBR). PBR is defined as the maximum number of animals that may be removed from a marine mammal stock while allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population level.
The new fishery classification categories include:
Category I: A fishery that has frequent incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals. (Where marine mammal mortality or serious injury is greater than or equal to 50 percent of any marine mammal stock's PBR.)
Category II: A fishery that has occasional incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals. (Where marine mammal mortality or serious injury is more than 10 percent of any marine mammal stock's PBR; and a fishery that, by itself, is responsible annually for mortality or serious injury of between one and 50 percent of any marine mammal stock's PBR.)
Category III: A fishery that has a remote likelihood of, or no known, incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals. (Where marine mammal mortality or injury is less than or equal to 10 percent of any marine mammal stock's PBR; or a fishery that, by itself, is responsible for less than or equal to one percent of that stock's PBR.)
The 1994 amendments to the MMPA imposed a seven-year deadline for all fisheries to "reduce incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals to insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate." In addition, those fisheries that incidentally kill or seriously injure declining, depleted, threatened or endangered stocks of marine mammals would be examined separately. Because many commenters on the proposed rule were concerned about how the "zero mortality and serious injury rate" would be defined, the fisheries service will not include a definition of this rate in the final rule, but will define this rate in the Federal Register notice that provides the final list of fisheries by Jan. 1, 1996.
The 1994 amendments to the MMPA also require the fisheries service to revise fishery registration and reporting procedures. Commercial fishermen in Category I or II fisheries are required to register with the fisheries service, pay an annual registration fee of about $30, and display a current decal.
In the proposed regulations published earlier this year, the fisheries service had proposed to count all entangled animals as "injured," which would have required fishermen to report all entanglements. The fisheries service has revised the final regulations so that entanglement in gear is not automatically considered an injury, except when other signs of injury are present. However, because entanglement information aids fisheries service management of marine mammal interactions with fisheries, the fisheries service requests that fishermen voluntarily report incidents of entanglement
The 1994 MMPA amendments require the fisheries service to authorize takes of endangered or threatened marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing operations under certain circumstances. The fisheries service can only grant such authorization for fisheries that have a "negligible impact" on these stocks.
The fisheries service is issuing an interim permit, effective Sept. 1, 1995, that allows the incidental, but not intentional, taking of threatened or endangered marine mammals for which a negligible impact finding has been made. The three stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act for which such findings can be made are Steller sea lions, both the eastern and western U.S. stocks, and the central north Pacific stock of humpback whales.
The interim permit will allow a 45-day comment period on the permit and findings, and final, individual permits will be issued when fishermen register by Jan. 1, 1996.
The proposed regulations were issued for public comment on June 16, 1995, and public hearings were held in California, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine. During that time, the fisheries service also received 54 written comments. Individual fishermen, fishing industry groups, environmental groups, animal rights groups, state fisheries departments or agencies, other federal agencies, and the general public submitted comments, which were considered during the development of the final regulations.
Although the public comment period on the proposed regulation has closed, interested members of the public are invited to review and comment on the list of fisheries. Comments on the proposed list of fisheries must be received by Sept. 14, 1995. Comments on the interim permit to take threatened or endangered marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing will be accepted through mid-October. Forward comments to:
Chief, Marine Mammal Division Office of Protected Resources National Marine Fisheries Service 1315 East-West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226