Switching Gillnets to Longlines: An Alternative to Mitigate the Bycatch of Franciscana Dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) in Argentina <br>Authors: Berninsone, L. G., Bordino, P., Gnecco, M., Foutel, M., Mackay, A. I., & Werner, T. B.<>brTopic :Bycatch<br> Frontiers in Marine Science,ÿ7, 699.
Marine mammal bycatch by the industrial bottom trawl fishery at the Rio de la Plata Estuary and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean <br>Authors: Franco Trecu V., Nube Szephegyi M., Dono F., Forselledo R., Reyes F., Passadore C., Crespo E. A., Inchausti P.<>brTopic :Bycatch<br>
The Sister Sanctuary Program, managed by Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, was established in 2006 to facilitate the effective management of a shared population of humpback whales across jurisdictional boundaries throughout its migratory range, from feeding and nursery grounds in the Gulf of Maine to breeding and calving areas in the Wider Caribbean region.
Best Practices for Collecting Marine Mammal Abundance Data Aboard Oceanic Surveys Workshop
The U.S. Government, through the NMFS, the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, and other Federal agencies, undertakes a number of research projects on cetaceans in U.S. waters and overseas. NMFS also collaborates with non-U.S. scientists on a wide variety of cetacean research activities.
The MMPA was amended in 1992 to formally establish the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) to:
Facilitate collection and dissemination of reference data on the health of marine mammals and to assess health trends of marine mammal populations in the wild; Correlate marine mammal health with available data on physical, chemical, and biological environmental parameters; and Coordinate effective responses to unusual mortality events (UMEs).
The MMHSRP has several components including:
All U.S. fishing vessel owners or operators must report all incidental mortalities and injuries of marine mammals that occur during commercial fishing operations under the Marine Mammal Authorization Program. In addition, NMFS’s Regional Fishery Observer Programs, Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program, and Large Whale Entanglement Response Programs document and report marine mammal mortalities and injuries incidental to commercial fishing operations.
Ship strikes are a significant threat to large whales. In the U.S., vessel collisions are one of the leading human-caused sources of mortality for the endangered North Atlantic right whale. To address this threat, NOAA has developed regulatory and non-regulatory measures to reduce ship strikes, including modification of vessel operations, education and outreach programs, and research and monitoring activities. Stranded large whales are examined externally and internally whenever logistically feasible to assist in diagnosis and appropriate quantification of ship strikes.
Anthropogenic underwater sound has the potential to cause adverse effects on cetaceans and cetacean populations. To better assess these potential impacts, NMFS recently finalized technical guidance for assessing acoustic effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammal hearing. More information is available online at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/acoustics/guidelines.htm.
