NEFSC Abundance of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy Harbor Porpoise Based on Aerial Surveys 1999

Original provider: NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Dataset credits: NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Abstract: The 1994 Amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) mandates periodic assessments of all cetacean stocks in US waters. To fulfill this mandate for the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy harbor porpoise stock, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted line transect abundance surveys during the summers of 1991, 1992, 1995, and 1999 and provided annual estimates of harbor porpoise by-catch from US sink gillnet fisheries. As well, incidental takes of bycatch in the Canadian sink gillnet and herring weir fisheries have also been documented. Abundance estimates increased from 37,000 in 1991 to 74,000 in 1995 (Table 1A; Smith et al. 1993, Palka 1995a, Palka 1996a). By-catch in the US Northeast sink gillnet fishery decreased from 2,900 animals in 1990 to 332 in 1998 (Table 1B; Bravington and Bisack 1996; Bisack 1997; Rossman and Merrick 1999). Harbor porpoise by-catch in the US mid-Atlantic coastal gillnet fisheries varied from a low of 103 in 1995 to a high of 572 in 1997 (Rossman and Merrick 1999). By-catch in the Canadian sink gillnet fishery decreased from 424 in 1993 to 10 in 1998 (Trippel et al. 1996, 1999). By-catch in the Canadian herring weir fishery decreased from 33 observed takes in 1993 to 2 in 1998 (Waring et al. 1999). Study area, field procedures and analysis methods used in the 1999 abundance survey were similar to those used during previous surveys (Smith et al. 1993, Palka 1995a, Palka 1996a). This paper presents a description of the field procedures, analysis methods and results from the 1999 survey and compares the abundance estimates from 1991 to 1999.

Citation: Josephson, B. and D. Palka. 2019. NEFSC Abundance of the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy Harbor Porpoise Based on Aerial Surveys 1999. Version 1.0.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/b74eb2ee.

Published: October 08, 2025 at 11:54

URL: http://ipt.env.duke.edu/resource?r=zd_1895