Southeast Regional Office

• Main Authors: Large Mesh, Gillnet Rule, To Implement The Bdtrp
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.171.445; http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/interactions/bdtrp_ea.pdf

SUMMARY: An environmental assessment (EA) was prepared to assess potential environmental impacts associated with a NMFS final rule to reduce serious injury and incidental mortality of the Western North Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphin stock from Category I and II fisheries by implementing a Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan (BDTRP) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA); and to provide consistency amongst state and federal large mesh regulations by amending the mid-Atlantic large mesh gillnet rule (50 CFR 223.206(d)(8)) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The following general requirements will be implemented by the Preferred Alternative (Alternative 7): time/area gillnet restrictions, gear proximity (fishermen must stay within a set distance of gear); gear modifications; nonregulatory conservation measures; and a revision to the large mesh gillnet size restriction. PURPOSE AND NEED: The need and purpose of this action is to meet the following two objectives under two different statutory authorities: (1) Under the MMPA, the purpose of the action is to implement the BDTRP. The need for implementing the BDTRP is to reduce, within six months of implementation of the BDTRP, the incidental mortality and serious injury of the western North Atlantic coastal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) stock of nine commercial