Estimates of the Number of Vessels and Quantity of Gear Deployed in the Lobster and Gillnet Fisheries in 1999 Off the Northeast Coast of the United States

摘要

Estimates were developed to establish a single source of information on the number of vessels and the quantity of gear in the lobster and gillnet fisheries off the northeast coast of the United States in 1999. The paper provides a methodological template for updating these estimates in the future. The estimates were developed to support the Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and to evaluate the economic impacts of gear modifications in the lobster and gillnet fisheries aimed at reducing right whale entanglements. Gillnets and lobster traps are the primary source of vertical lines that may entangle right whales and other marine mammals.