On January 10th, NOAA Fisheries published a notice seeking information on foreign commercial fishing operations that export fish and fish products to the United States and the level of incidental and intentional mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in those fishery operations.
This information will be used to develop the List of Foreign Fisheries (LFF) as required by regulations implementing the fish and fish product import provisions as they relate to marine mammal bycatch associated with fisheries (aquaculture or wild caught) that supply imports to the United States under sections 101(a)(2) and 102 (c)(3) of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.These regulations, published as a final rule on August 1, 2016, established conditions for evaluating a harvesting nation’s regulatory program and measures to address incidental and intentional mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in commercial fisheries that export fish and fish products to the United States.
NOAA Fisheries is seeking information on foreign commercial fishing operations that harvest fish and fish products for export to the United States, including:
- type of operation (e.g. aquaculture or wild caught)
- number of participants,
- number of vessels,
- gear type,
- target species,
- area of operation,
- fishing season, and
- information regarding the frequency of marine mammal incidental and intentional mortality and serious injury.
NOAA Fisheries will use this information to identify harvesting nations with commercial fishing operations that export fish and fish products to the United States and classify those fisheries based on their frequency of marine mammal interactions as either “exempt” or “export” fisheries. [Exempt fisheries are fisheries that have no known or a remote likelihood of marine mammal bycatch and are exempt from instituting a regulatory program. Export fisheries are those fisheries with more than a remote likelihood of marine mammal bycatch or insufficient information available on marine mammal interaction.]
Additional information about this notice and/or the final rule to implement MMPA import provisions can be found at: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia