Analysis of harbor porpoise gillnet bycatch, compliance, and enforcement trends in the US northwestern Atlantic, January 1999 to May 2010

Abstract

In 1999 the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implemented regulations to limit harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena incidental bycatch in US waters of the northwestern Atlantic. This effort was called the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) and included a mixture of time-area closures, pinger and other gear modification requirements, a pinger training program, and outreach and education efforts. This paper focuses on the plan from January 1999 to May 2010 and examines trends in bycatch patterns, compliance with the plan, enforcement of the plan requirements, and changes in the primary fisheries involved in harbor porpoise bycatch. Over the course of the plan harbor porpoise bycatch dropped in the first few years, increased to unacceptable levels during the middle years, and moderated in the later years of the plan. Changes in fishing effort and distribution of key fisheries played a large role in decreasing the bycatch in much of the Mid-Atlantic and also in increasing bycatch in Southern New England and off the coast of New Jersey. The pattern in compliance levels had an inverse relationship with bycatch levels, with better compliance and lower bycatch in early and late years, though compliance was generally poor even when at its best. Enforcement of HPTRP regulations was not well documented, but, from available compliance data, it appears that what enforcement did occur was not sufficient to improve compliance. Given poor compliance with pinger requirements, these requirements have not resulted in the expected reduction in bycatch.

REVIEW Development of conservation strategies to mitigate the bycatch of harbor porpoises in the Gulf of Maine

“…A large number of fishermen, scientists, environmentalists and fisheries managers worked to develop, refine and implement a suite of measures to reduce the bycatch of this species from almost 3000 yr −1 to a sustainable level (Fig. 5), although bycatch has recently increased once again (Orphanides & Palka 2013). What can we learn from this case study?…”

“…Between June 1989 and May 1991 observers monitored 289 fishing trips (about 1% of the total) and documented 34 porpoises taken as bycatch (Smith et al 1991). The observer program has continued to this day, with 2 to 6% of fishing trips monitored each year (Waring et al 2011, Orphanides & Palka 2013.…”

“…As described below and by (Orphanides & Palka 2013), the 3 areas were incorporated into a number of future management actions and remain part of the bycatch reduction strategy in place today. Nevertheless, they were highly unpopular with the fishing industry.…”

“…The story continued, of course, after implementation of the Take Reduction Plan in 1999; these more recent developments are described by Orphanides & Palka (2013).…”

“…I use the road map described by Read (2010) to structure the review. The rather depressing story from 1999 onwards is taken up by a companion paper in this Theme Section (Orphanides & Palka 2013).…”