Report of a Marine Mammal Survey of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Aboard the Research Vessel DAVID STARR JORDAN, July 29-December 7, 1989

摘要

In 1984, as a result of an amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) was mandated to conduct a research program to monitor trends in the abundance of stocks of dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP). These dolphins are killed incidentally during fishing operations by the U. S. purse seine fishery for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). In the first three years of the program (1986 through 1988), two surveys of marine mammal populations in the ETP were conducted concurrently each year aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessels David Starr Jordan and McArthur. The surveys lasted 120 days each. In 1989, the fourth pair of surveys was conducted during the same period of time and using the same vessels.