Catch and Bycatch in U.S. Southeast Gillnet Fisheries, 2008

摘要

Observations of the catch and bycatch from the Florida-Georgia shark gillnet fishery are required by law, and reports are prepared annually (e.g. Carlson and Bethea 2007 and references therein). Previously, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and the Biological Opinion issued under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act mandated 100% observer coverage of the southeast shark drift gillnet fishery during the right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, calving season (15 Nov-31 Mar). Outside the right whale calving season (1 Apr-14 Nov), an interim final rule (March 30, 2001; 66 FR 17370) to the Fishery Management Plan for Highly Migratory Species (NMFS, 1999) established a level of observer coverage for these vessels equal to that which would attain a sample size needed to provide estimates of sea turtle or marine mammal interactions with an expected coefficient of variation of 0.3.