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by Janice M. Plante
SILVER SPRING, MD - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has shut down the Grand Banks to pelagic longlining until further notice to protect loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles.
The final rule, effective July 9, made permanent the closure that NMFS first implemented - and then extended - through emergency action last summer.
The measures were triggered after a June 14, 2001 biological opinion concluded that operation of the US Atlantic pelagic longline fishery jeopardizes the continued existence of loggerheads and leatherbacks, which, respectively, are listed as threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Blue Water Fishermen's Association and several fishermen and support businesses have gone to court to challenge much of the data used in the biological opinion, as well as last year's emergency closure. The case is still being litigated.
Hand-in-hand with this year's closure, NMFS agreed to continue last summer's experimental fishery, which will give at least a few boats some access to the Grand Banks.
The closure area is formally called the northeast distant (NED) statistical reporting area. It covers 2,631,000 square nautical miles and contains the Grand Banks prime summer and fall fishing grounds for US distant water swordfish boats.
According to NMFS, the NED area "has the highest incidental take rate of sea turtles by the US Atlantic pelagic longline fleet."
By implementing the closure and several fleet-wide gear requirements (listed below), NMFS is attempting to reduce bycatch turtle mortality by at least 55%, the amount necessary to remove the biological opinion's "jeopardy" finding.
Industry members with history on the Grand Banks were extremely disappointed with NMFS's decision to extend the closure through a final rule.
"We don't support the closure because we do not support the science within the biological opinion," said Nelson Beideman, Blue Water's executive director. "We were hoping that NMFS wouldn't implement it but would still continue the research."
Boats set sail
On July 9, four boats set sail for the Grand Banks to begin the 2002 experimental fishery and, by midmonth, 10 vessels were on the grounds or en route.
"Ten of the 14 boats that put in bids were accepted for the experiment for a minimum of two trips each," said Beideman, "but some boats are still locked out of the fishery right now."
This summer marks year two of what is intended to be a three-year experimental fishery. Participating vessels will be conducting more sea trials to try out gear and fishing methods that might mitigate interactions with sea turtles, such as using mackerel bait, large size circle hooks, and limiting daylight soak time.
Researchers and participating boats will also evaluate the practicality of capturing "control" turtles - animals that haven't interacted with longline gear but are independently captured specifically for satellite tagging purposes.
"The experiment overall is extremely rigid," said Beideman. "It will be very difficult for both the boats and the observers. We're just hoping we can still catch a few fish in the process."
2001 experiment
Eight vessels participated in the 2001 experiment between August and November, making 186 total sets. Sixteen of the turtles caught incidentally in the fishery were outfitted with satellite pop-off tags.
The 2001 experiment was fruitful because it made clear that two proposed gear changes didn't work.
Neither the use of blue-dyed bait nor using fishing gangions 20 fathoms from the floatline reduced turtle mortalities by a statistically significant amount.
However, daylight soak time was discovered to be a significant factor with greater than 70% of all turtles taken on the gear.
The proposed rule for the July 9, 2002 closure and gear requirements came out on April 10. That version included a provision requiring gangions to be set two gangion lengths away from floatlines.
NMFS decided to drop the measure in the final rule, however, because the results of the 2001 experimental fishery "determined that this alternative is not effective in reducing interactions with loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles."
Gear changes
Here are the gear changes that NMFS did implement in the July 9 rule:
- A requirement that gangions be 10% longer than the length of any floatline "if the total length of any gangion plus the total length of any floatline is less than 100 meters";
- A prohibition against having any hooks on board that aren't corrodible, nonstainless steel;
- A requirement that all highly migratory species (HMS) bottom and pelagic longliners post "sea turtle handling and release guidelines" in their wheelhouses; and
- A requirement that all HMS permit holders carrying pelagic longline gear report within 48 hours "any turtles that are dead when they are captured or that die during capture." The number to call is 1 (800) 858-0624.
Reduction expected
NMFS believes that additional bycatch reduction can be achieved through the gear modifications. By regulating gangion length, NMFS said longliners would be deploying gear "so that hooked or entangled turtles have sufficient slack line to reach the surface and avoid drowning."
As for the hook requirement, NMFS said, "Currently, this measure is believed to reduce the post-release mortality of sea turtles by either causing the fishing line to fall off or causing the hook to fall out earlier than might occur if it were made of stainless steel."
The agency plans to hold a workshop by the end of 2002 to further assess the impacts of corrodible, nonstainless steel hooks.
It's clear, however, that NMFS thinks the biggest reduction in turtle mortality will be achieved through the closure. The biological opinion concluded that a 49%-67% reduction in bycatch turtle mortality could be achieved through the closure, depending on the data used and the species of turtle being considered.
For its part, the fleet is hoping the experimental fishery will prove that selective gear changes and alterations in fishing practices will reduce turtle mortalities by the necessary 55% to lift the jeopardy finding.
"That's our goal and we have what we think are very significant treatments to test this gear," said Beideman.
