Taking of Marine Mammals Incidental to Commercial Fishing Operations; Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Regulations

• Main Author: Regulations Proposed Rule
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: ACTION; Proposed rule; request for comments. SUMMARY; The National Marine; Hake; Balaenoptera physalus; Eubalaena glacialis; Fin whale; Humpback Whale; Megaptera novaeangliae; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.192.2572; http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/hotnews/whales/ALWTRP_pr.pdf

Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to amend the regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP), to revise the management measures for reducing the incidental mortality and serious injury to the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) in commercial fisheries to meet the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). NMFS proposes additional regulations for the fisheries currently covered by the ALWTRP, which include the Northeast sink gillnet, Northeast/ Mid-Atlantic American lobster trap/pot, U.S. Mid-Atlantic coastal gillnet, Southeast Atlantic gillnet, and Southeastern U.S. Atlantic shark gillnet fisheries. NMFS also proposes to regulate the following fisheries from the MMPA’s List of Fisheries for the first time under the ALWTRP: Northeast anchored float gillnet, Northeast drift gillnet, Atlantic blue crab, and Atlantic mixed species trap/pot fisheries targeting crab (red, Jonah, and rock), hagfish, finfish (black sea bass, scup, tautog, cod, haddock, pollock, redfish (ocean perch), and white hake), conch/ whelk, and shrimp. DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received by 5 p.m. EST on July