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NOAA Fisheries
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 Acropora palmata thicket on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Andy Bruckner, 1996Coho salmon painting, Canadian Dept of Fisheries and OceansMonk seal, C.E. BowlbyHumpback whale, Dr. Lou Herman
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Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Team (PLTRT)

 
long-finned pilot whale
Long-finned Pilot Whale
(Globicephala melas)
Photo: Howard Goldstein, courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography/ UCSD and R/V Roger Revelle

short-finned pilot whale
Short-finned Pilot Whale
(Globicephala macrorhynchus)
Photo: NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Risso's Dolphin
Risso's Dolphin
(Grampus griseus)
Photo: Scott Hill, NOAA Corps

Overview
NMFS established a take reduction team (TRT) to address the incidental mortality and serious injury of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the mid-Atlantic region of the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery.

Under section 118 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the PLTRT is charged with developing a take reduction plan (TRP) to reduce bycatch of pilot whales in the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery to a level approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate within 5 years of implementation of the plan. (For more information, please see the Federal Register notice announcing the PLTRT [pdf]).

The Plan
The PLTRT reached consensus on a plan to reduce serious injuries and mortalities of short-finned pilot whales, long-finned pilot whales, and Risso's dolphins in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery to insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate. The Team submitted the draft Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan [pdf] [2.5 MB] to NMFS on June 8, 2006.

A proposed rule to implement the Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan was published on June 24, 2008:

PLTRT Meetings

Background
NMFS settled a lawsuit with several environmental organizations in 2003, which resulted in an agreement to convene the PLTRT [pdf] in June 2005.

In 1996, NMFS convened the Atlantic Offshore Cetacean Take Reduction Team (AOCTRT) to address bycatch of several marine mammal stocks, including pilot whales, in the Atlantic pelagic longline, pelagic drifnet, and pair trawl fisheries. The AOCTRT submitted a final draft AOCTRP [pdf] [6.5 MB] to NMFS in November 1996. However, the fisheries included in that draft plan changed dramatically soon after and NMFS disbanded the AOCTRT before taking final action.

Additional Documents

More Information
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