Estimates of cetacean and pinniped bycatch in the 2013 New England sink and Mid-Atlantic gillnet fisheries

• Main Authors: Hatch, Joshua M., Orphanides, Christopher
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center 2015
• Subjects: Cetacea > Mortality > Effect of fishing on > Atlantic Coast New England; Pinnipedia > Mortality > Effect of fishing on > Atlantic Coast New England; Dolphins > Mortality > Effect of fishing on > Atlantic Coast New England; Bycatches Fisheries > Atlantic Coast Middle Atlantic States; Gillnetting > Environmental aspects > Atlantic Coast Middle Atlantic States; Pagophilus groenlandicus; Phoca vitulina; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7289/v5hd7snk; https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/5025

This report provides estimated bycatch of 8 species of small cetaceans and pinnipeds bycaught in the New England sink (NESG) and mid-Atlantic (MAG) gillnet fisheries. The 2013 serious injuries and total mortalities in the NESG fishery were 399 (coefficient of variation [CV] = 0.33) harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena phocoena),104(CV=0.47)short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis delphis),4(CV=1.03)Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus), 27 (CV = 0.95) common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus truncatus), 23 (CV = 0.97) Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), 22 (CV = 0.75) harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus), 1127 (CV = 0.20) gray seals (Halichoerus grypus grypus), and 147 (CV = 0.30) harbor seals (Phoca vitulina concolor). NESG estimates are based on observed bycatch consisting of 20 harbor porpoises, 5 short-beaked common dolphins, 1 Atlantic white-sided dolphin, 1 common bottlenose dolphin, 1 Risso's dolphin, 2 harp seals, 69 gray seals, and 22 harbor seals. The 2013 serious injuries and total mortalities in the MAG fishery were 62 (CV = 0.67) short-beaked common dolphins and 19 (CV = 1.06)harborporpoises. MAG estimates are based on observed by catch consisting of 2 short-beaked common dolphins and 1 harbor porpoise. The majority of marine mammal bycatch was observed on hauls targeting monkfish or skate using large-mesh nets that soaked for relatively long durations. For the NESG fishery, full pinger deployment was high in 2013 for times and areas required by the 2010 Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP), ranging from 89 - 100%. Similarly, pinger functionality was found to be high for the 2013 NESG fleet, ranging from 80 - 100%.