Zero Mortality Rate Goal for Marine Mammal Protection To implement the Zero Mortality Rate Goal (ZMRG) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA Fisheries has defined an “insignificance threshold” as the upper limit of mortality and serious injury to a stock of marine mammals incidental to commercial fisheries considered to be insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate. The insignificance threshold for a population stock of marine mammals is estimated as 10 percent of the stock’s Potential Biological Removal level. The final rule will publish on July 20, 2004. Details of the rule and additional information on the ZMRG are available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr. NOAA Fisheries is also completing a report to Congress on fisheries’ progress in reducing incidental mortality and is expecting to submit the report to Congress in October 2004.
The ZMRG has been an integral part of the Marine Mammal Protection Act since it was enacted in 1972, initially directed at addressing the mortality of dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna purse seine fishery. The concept was expanded to all domestic commercial fisheries in the 1994 amendments to the Act. For more information, contact Tom Eagle at
To*******@no**.gov
or (301) 713-2332.
Zero Mortality Rate Goal for Marine Mammal Protection
To implement the Zero Mortality Rate Goal (ZMRG) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA Fisheries has defined an “insignificance threshold” as the upper limit of mortality and serious injury to a stock of marine mammals incidental to commercial fisheries considered to be insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate. The insignificance threshold for a population stock of marine mammals is estimated as 10 percent of the stock’s Potential Biological Removal level. The final rule will publish on July 20, 2004. Details of the rule and additional information on the ZMRG are available on the Internet at the following address: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr. NOAA Fisheries is also completing a report to Congress on fisheries’ progress in reducing incidental mortality and is expecting to submit the report to Congress in October 2004.
The ZMRG has been an integral part of the Marine Mammal Protection Act since it was enacted in 1972, initially directed at addressing the mortality of dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna purse seine fishery. The concept was expanded to all domestic commercial fisheries in the 1994 amendments to the Act. For more information, contact Tom Eagle at
To*******@no**.gov
or (301) 713-2332.