NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS NE 169
U.S. Atlantic and
Gulf of Mexico
Marine Mammal Stock Assessments -- 2002
by Gordon T. Waring1,
Janeen M. Quintal1, and Carol P. Fairfield2, Editors
with contributions from (listed
alphabetically): Phillip J. Clapham1, Timothy V.N. Cole1, Lance P. Garrison2,
Georgia Department of Natural Resources3, Aleta Hohn4,
Blair G. Maise2, Wayne E. McFee5, Debra L. Palka1,
Patricia E. Rosel5, Marjorie C. Rossman1,
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Cynthia Yeung2
1National
Marine Fisheries Serv., Woods Hole Lab., 166 Water St., Woods
Hole, MA 02543
2National Marine Fisheries Service, 75 Virginia Beach
Dr., Miami, FL 33149-1003
3Georgia
Dept. of Natural Resources, 2070 U.S. Hwy. 278 S.E., Social Circle,
GA 30025
4National Marine Fisheries Serv., 101 Pivers Island
Rd., Beaufort, NC 28516-9722
5National Marine Fisheries Serv., 219 Fort Johnson
Rd., Charleston, SC 29412
6U.S. Fish & Wildlife Serv., 300 Westgate Center
Dr., Hadley, MA 01035-9589
Print
publication date September 2002 ;
web version posted April 18, 2003
Citation: Waring GT, Quintal JM, Fairfield CP, editors. 2002. US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico marine mammal stock assessments -- 2002. NOAA Tech Memo NMFS NE 169; 318 p.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge contributions by the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center (NEFSC) Sea Sampling Investigation, and Dana Hartley,
NMFS Northeast Stranding and Disentanglement Program. Also, we acknowledge
advice and comments provided by: Jon Gibson, Richard Merrick, and Fred
Serchuk (NEFSC); Kim Thounhurst and Diane Borggaard, Northeast Regional
Office (NERO); Steven Swartz, Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC);
Katie Moore and Kathy Wang, Southeast Regional Office (SERO); Tom Eagle
and Emily Menashes, NMFS Office of Protected Resources; Solange Brault,
Don Baltz, Joseph DeAlteris, James Gilbert, Robert Kenney, Bill Lang,
James Mead, Daniel Odell, Andrew Read, Richard Seagraves, Randall Wells,
and Sharon Young of the Atlantic Scientific Review Group; Robin Baird
and Jim Valade, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Barbara Zoodsma
of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. We also thank the Marine
Mammal Commission, the Ocean Conservancy, and the Humane Society of
the United States for their constructive comments and advice.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Under the 1994 amendments of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA),
the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) were required to generate stock assessment
reports (SAR) for all marine mammal stocks in waters within the U.S.
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The first reports for the Atlantic (includes
the Gulf of Mexico) were published in July 1995 (Blaylock et al. 1995).
The MMPA requires NMFS and USFWS to review these reports annually for
strategic stocks of marine mammals and at least every 3 years for stocks
determined to be non-strategic. The second edition of the SARs (1996
assessments) was published in October 1997 and contained all the previous
reports, but major revisions and updating were only completed for strategic
stocks (Waring et al. 1997). Updated reports were identified by a 1997
date-stamp at the top right corner at the beginning of each report.
The 3rd edition of the SARs (1998 assessments) only contained reports
for Atlantic stocks, and updated reports were identified by a 1998
date-stamp (Waring et al. 1999). The 4th edition of the SARs (1999
assessments) only contained reports for Atlantic stocks, and updated
reports were identified by a 1999 date-stamp (Waring et al. 1999).
The 5th and 6th editions of the SAR contained all NMFS reports for
the Atlantic (includes the Gulf of Mexico) and the USFWS West Indian
manatee assessments. Updated reports were identified, respectively,
by 2000 and 2001date-stamps (Waring et al. 2000, 2001). The current
(2002) report contains updated assessments for Atlantic strategic stocks
and for any additional stocks which had significant new information
available. These reports are identified by a January 2002 date-stamp
at the beginning of each report. Appendix I contains
a summary of serious injury/mortality estimates of marine mammals in
observed U.S. fisheries. Appendix II summarizes
NMFS records of large whale/human interactions examined for this assessment. Appendices
III and IV contain stock assessments not
updated in the year 2001and the West Indian Manatees stock assessments,
respectively.
This report was prepared by staff of the Northeast Fisheries Science
Center (NEFSC), Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), and USFWS.
NMFS and USFWS staff presented the reports at the November 2001 meeting
of the Atlantic Scientific Review Group (ASRG), and subsequent revisions
were based on their contributions and constructive criticism.
Table 1 contains a summary, by species, of the
information included in the stock assessments, and also indicates those
that have been revised since the 2001 publication. A total of 23 of
the 60 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico stock assessment reports were revised
for 2002. Most of the proposed changes incorporate new information
into sections on population size and/or mortality estimates. The revised
SARs include 14 strategic and 9 nonstrategic stocks. Information on
human interactions (fishery and ship strikes) between the right whale,
humpback whale, fin whale, and minke whale stocks were re-reviewed
and updated. This is a working document and individual stock assessment
reports will be updated as new information becomes available and as
changes to marine mammal stocks and fisheries occur. The authors solicit
any new information or comments which would improve future stock assessment
reports.
INTRODUCTION
Section 117 of the 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection
Act (MMPA) requires that an annual stock assessment report (SAR) for
each stock of marine mammals that occurs in waters under USA jurisdiction,
be prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in consultation with regional
Scientific Review Groups (SRGs). The SRGs are a broad representation
of marine mammal and fishery scientists and members of the commercial
fishing industry mandated to review the marine mammal stock assessments
and provide advice to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries.
The reports are then made available on the Federal Register for public
review and comment before final publication.
The MMPA requires that each SAR contain several items, including:
(1) a description of the stock, including its geographic range; (2)
a minimum population estimate, a maximum net productivity rate, and
a description of current population trend, including a description
of the information upon which these are based; (3) an estimate of the
annual human-caused mortality and serious injury of the stock, and,
for a strategic stock, other factors that may be causing a decline
or impeding recovery of the stock, including effects on marine mammal
habitat and prey; (4) a description of the commercial fisheries that
interact with the stock, including the estimated number of vessels
actively participating in the fishery and the level of incidental mortality
and serious injury of the stock by each fishery on an annual basis;
(5) a statement categorizing the stock as strategic or not, and why;
and (6) an estimate of the potential biological removal (PBR) level
for the stock, describing the information used to calculate it. The
MMPA also requires that SARs be updated annually for stocks which are
specified as strategic stocks, or for which significant new information
is available, and once every three years for non-strategic stocks.
Following enactment of the 1994 amendments, the NMFS and USFWS held
a series of workshops to develop guidelines for preparing the SARs.
The first set of stock assessments for the Atlantic Coast (including
the Gulf of Mexico) were published in July 1995 in the NOAA Technical
Memorandum series (Blaylock et al. 1995). In April 1996, the NMFS held
a workshop to review proposed additions and revisions to the guidelines
for preparing SARs (Wade and Angliss 1997). Guidelines developed at
the workshop were followed in preparing the 1996 (Waring et al. 1997),
1998 (Waring et al. 1999), 1999 (Waring et al. 1999), 2000 (Waring
et al. 2000), and 2001 (Waring et al. 2001) SARs. A 1997 SAR was not
produced.
In this document, major revisions and updating of the SARs were only
completed for Atlantic Coast strategic stocks and Atlantic Coast stocks
for which significant new information were available. These are identified
by the January 2002 date-stamp at the top right corner at the beginning
of each report.
REFERENCES
Blaylock, R. A., J. W. Hain, L. J. Hansen, D. L. Palka and G. T. Waring.
1995. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico marine mammal stock assessments.
NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-363, 211 pp.
Wade, P. R. and R. P. Angliss. 1997. Guidelines for assessing marine
mammal stocks: Report of the GAMMS workshop April 3-5, 1996, Seattle,
Washington. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-OPR-12, 93 pp.
Waring, G. T., D. L. Palka, K. D. Mullin, J. H. W. Hain, L. J. Hansen
and K. D. Bisack. 1997. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico marine mammal
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Waring, G. T., D. L. Palka, P, J. Clapham, S. Swartz, M. Rossman,
T.V.N. Cole, K. D. Bisack and L. J. Hansen. 1999. U.S. Atlantic marine
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D. K. Odell and N. B. Barros. 1999. U. S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
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Waring, G. T., J. M. Quintal and S. Swartz. 2000. U. S. Atlantic and
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Waring, G. T., J. M. Quintal and S. Swartz. 2001. U. S. Atlantic and
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