97-15075. Use of Acoustic Pingers to Deter Marine Mammals in Commercial Fishing Operations

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 111 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31575-31576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-15075]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 052397A]


Use of Acoustic Pingers to Deter Marine Mammals in Commercial 
Fishing Operations

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has prepared a draft programmatic environmental 
assessment (EA) detailing the circumstances under which acoustic 
pingers may be used as a management measure to reduce marine mammal 
interactions with commercial fisheries. In addition, the EA provides 
guidance on what constitutes adequate scientific validation of the 
efficacy of pingers for individual fisheries. Because the EA may be 
used in the preparation of Take Reduction Plans under Sec. 118 of the 
Marine Mammal Protection, NMFS is requesting comments on the draft EA 
before it is finalized.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 10, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft EA may be obtained from Chief, Marine 
Mammal Division, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, or by calling [phone].
    Written comments should be submitted to Chief, Marine Mammal 
Division, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Wilkinson, Office of Protected 
Resources, at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The draft EA deals only with incorporation 
of acoustic pinger technology into management regimes in order to 
reduce marine mammal bycatch. It does not address use of explosives or 
high amplitude sound generators that are often used to deter pinnipeds. 
It also does not address the independent use of acoustic pingers by 
fishers outside the context of a prescribed management program.
    Although generally applicable to any fishery in which the use of 
pingers may be proposed, the EA focuses on those fisheries in which use 
of pingers has been or is likely to be proposed: The New England 
multispecies sink gillnet fishery; the Atlantic swordfish component of 
the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico large pelagics drift 
gillnet fishery; the U.S. mid-Atlantic coastal gillnet fishery; and the 
California/Oregon thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet fishery.
    The EA addresses two alternatives--a no-action alternative and the 
use of acoustic pingers as a management measure. The no- action 
alternative would entail no incorporation of pinger technology into 
management regimes. The preferred alternative--use of pingers as a 
management measure when appropriate--is divided into two sections--
conditions under which pingers may be incorporated into a management 
regime, and guidelines for what will be considered a scientifically 
valid experiment to determine the efficacy of pingers in specific 
fisheries.
    The conditions for incorporation of pingers as a management measure 
are:
    1. Use of pingers will not substitute for other management measures 
until there is a statistically significant validation of the efficacy 
of pingers in the specific fishery and for the species of marine mammal 
taken.
    2. There should be observer coverage of those fisheries in which 
pingers are used in order to determine whether pingers remain effective 
under conditions other than the original research setting and whether 
they continue to work over a period of time.
    3. If pingers are found to be significantly less effective than 
original evidence indicated, other management measures will be used to 
reduce marine mammal-fishery interactions.
    4. If significant questions as to the environmental impact of 
pingers arise that are not addressed by the EA, a subsequent EA will be 
prepared.
    The guidelines for conducting experiments are:
    1. Experiments should be structured with controls.
    2. Data should be collected and reported by independent observers.
    3. A double-blind protocol is preferred, but when not feasible, a 
single-blind experiment may be conducted.
    4. In order to generate meaningful results, a power analysis should 
be done in advance to determine the sample size and observer coverage. 
To limit the chance of Type 2 error, power should be at least 0.7.


[[Page 31576]]


    Dated: June 3, 1997.
David L. Evans,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-15075 Filed 6-9-97; 8:45 am]
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