ALWTRP- DEIS BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS CHAPTER 5
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that an environmental impact statement for a proposed Federal action evaluate the impacts of the action with respect to the human environment, including its biological, economic, and social components. This chapter addresses the first of these di...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.192.2396 http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/hotnews/whales/ALWTRP_DEIS_CHAPTER-5.pdf |
| Summary: | The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that an environmental impact statement for a proposed Federal action evaluate the impacts of the action with respect to the human environment, including its biological, economic, and social components. This chapter addresses the first of these dimensions, evaluating the impact of potential modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) on the biological environment. 1 Of foremost concern to this evaluation is the direct effect of the potential regulations on the likelihood that North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, and fin whales − all of which are federally listed endangered species − will be killed or seriously injured as a result of entanglement in commercial fishing gear. It is also necessary, however, to consider whether new regulations could indirectly affect these species by exposing them to different risks or by altering the habitat upon which they depend. In addition, it is important to consider the potential effect that changes in ALWTRP regulations might have on other aspects of the marine environment. The discussion that follows presents an evaluation of these impacts. It focuses first on the potential direct and indirect effects of revised ALWTRP regulations on Atlantic large whales, comparing the potential impacts of each of the regulatory alternatives under consideration, one of which NMFS may ultimately choose to identify in the FEIS (Section 5.1). It then discusses other potential impacts on marine resources, including impacts on other protected species, directed catch, bycatch, and essential fish habitat. 2 These other potential impacts are compared among the regulatory alternatives under consideration (Section 5.2). The chapter is organized as follows: Section 5.1.1 presents the potential direct and indirect effects of gear modification requirement changes on Atlantic large whales, Section 5.1.2 presents the potential direct and indirect effects of changes to restricted times and areas on Atlantic large ... |
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