Abstract

The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act states that the U.S. shall ban the importation of foreign commercial fish or fish products which have been caught with commercial fishing technology which results in the incidental kill or incidental serious injury of marine mammals in excess of U.S. standards or of any fish or fish product that was produced in a fishery that intentionally kills marine mammals in the course of those fishery operations. Previously, NOAA Fisheries, in consultation with foreign trading partners assembled a List of Foreign Fisheries, which contains global fisheries information for fisheries that export seafood products to the U.S., including the target catch, gear type, and data on incidents of marine mammal interaction in the course of fishing operations. Fishery and marine mammal interaction data was provided by nations and cross-checked with published information from regional fishery management organizations and Food and Agricultural Organization’s national reports, scientific publications, and gray literature. NOAA Fisheries is in year three of the five-year exemption period and here to provide updates, including the introduction of a web-based portal for accessing fishery information and completing the 2019 Progress Report. The Progress Report asks fisheries managers to provide information on their nation’s regulations relating to marine mammal bycatch and fisheries management with the goal to track the reduction of marine mammal interaction in commercial fisheries. We pose for the oral session to review each nation represented in Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute their list of fisheries, as well as any priorities and possible mitigation measures. Nations are welcome to bring any questions about the Progress Report due September 13, 2019, and schedule technical consultations after the event.

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