Differentiating Serious and Non-Serious Injury of Marine Mammals Taken Incidential to Commercial Fishing Operations: Report of the Serious Injury Workshop, Silver Spring, Maryland

The objective of the Serious Injury Workshop was to explore a broad range of guidelines that could be used to determine which marine mammals entangled in fishing gear or injured incidental to fishing operations should be considered seriously injured as a result of the encounter. The development of guidelines for which injuries should be considered serious is critical because NMFS is mandated to reduce the level of incidental serious injury and mortality incidental to commercial fishing operations below Potential Biological Removal (PBR) levels. Currently, NMFS manages many fisheries only based only on the level of mortality incurred in that fishery. NMFS needs to develop a consistent approach for determining what constitutes a serious injury incorporate this into the management regime.