U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.
Category |
III |
|
Estimated Number of Participants |
CA - 321 OR - unk WA - unk AK - 1,006 (Total estimated >7,000) |
|
Target Species |
Numerous: include salmon, groundfish, pelagics, hagfish,crab, spiny lobster |
|
Applicable Take Reduction Plans |
None |
|
Observer Coverage |
No federal observer coverage, but occasional on-board and dockside sampling by State fish and wildlife agents. |
|
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured |
Humpback whale, Central North Pacific Humpback whale, Western North Pacific Killer whale, unknown Steller sea lion, Eastern U.S. Steller sea lion, Western U.S. |
^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NMFS acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.
*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).
1 Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.
Interactions with marine mammals depredating on target catch and incidentally becoming hooked or entangled have been reported to NMFS anecdotally, but not systematically through fisheries observer programs. Stranding records suggest some serious injury and mortality is associated with hook and line fisheries for some of these stocks, but no definitive estimate associated with commercial passenger fishing vessel (CPFV) fisheries has been made.
Seasonally throughout coastal and offshore waters of the entire U.S. west coast.
Hook and line fisheries with various configurations of hook/bait/gear. Some additional effort with traps or hoop nets occurs as primary or secondary target of CPFV fishing trips.
Varies by target fishery and location. Some of the large CPFV fisheries involve a mixture of state managed recreational and/or CPFV fishing regulations in combination with federal or internationally set harvest allocations and guidelines. Examples include:
Pacific Halibut - management oversight by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and State fish and wildlife agencies.
Highly Migratory Species - fisheries for tunas and other migratory species managed under the West Coast Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan, with additional State regulations and/or requirements for participants.
Groundfish - managed under the Pacific Coast Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan, with additional State regulations and/or requirements for participants.
Salmon - managed under the Salmon Fisheries Management Plan, with additional State regulations and/or requirement for participants.
|
Original Category (Year added to the LOF) |
III (1996) |
|
Original Number of Participants |
1,243 |
|
Basis for Original Classification |
No documented marine mammal interactions because no observer, logbook, or stranding data available. |
|
Past Names |
N/A |
|
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list) |
N/A |
| 2022 |
|
| 2021 |
|
|
2018 |
|
Oceanic whitetip shark. Hawaiʻi longline fishermen use leaders to connect weighed branch lines and baited hooks. A new rule prohibits steel wire leaders in the Hawaiʻi deep-set longline fishery, starting May 31, 2022. The rule aims to increase the survival of hooked oceanic whitetip sharks caught as bycatch in the Pacific Islands region. Credit: Andy Mann
Pink salmon. Credit: NOAA
