NOAA’s Fisheries Service has given six additional months to the East Coast pot fishermen to switch over from floating to sinking groundline so that it would help reduce the risk of entangling large whales in fishing gear. According to NOAA this extension will ensure all crab and fish trap/pot operations, which are newly required to use modified gear, understand they are affected by the requirement and how to comply.
NOAA said that this extension would also apply to American lobster trap gear, which has been managed under rules for reducing entanglement risk since 1997. It also said that the extension will have minimal effect on entanglement risks to large whales. In addition, all other risk reduction measures that went into place in October 2007 remain in effect and are unchanged.
It is informed that the proposed rule will publish in the Federal register on Friday, June 6 and public comments will be accepted through 5 p.m. on Monday, July 7. It is mentioned that if the extension is implemented, sinking groundline — the line that connects multiple traps/pots when the gear is set — will be required by April 5, 2009, rather than October 5, 2008.
It is fact that several species of large whales are subject to entanglement, including the North Atlantic right whale, which is also one of the most endangered. Therefore the NOAA’s Fisheries Service from 1966 has been working to eliminate this threat through a program of research, consultation with stakeholders, and regulatory actions. Gear requirements and special management areas have been a large part of this effort.
