Evaluation of Northern Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Measures in the Great South Channel of Massachusetts
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NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-202 Evaluation of Northern Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Measures in the Great South Channel of Massachusetts U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center Woods Hole, Massachusetts March 2007 Recent Issues in This Series: 184. A Large Marine Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management and Sustainability. By Frank J. Gable. August 2004. v + 84 p., 38 figs., 10 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB2005-101435. [Online publication only.] 185. Revised and Updated Edition of F. Bruce Sanford's 1957 "Planning Your Scientific Research Paper." By Jon A. Gibson. August 2004. x + 36 p., 5 figs., 12 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB____-______. 186. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Silver Hake, Merluccius bilinearis, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By Meredith C. Lock and David B. Packer. August 2004. v + 68 p., 28 figs., 6 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB2005-101436. [Online publication only.] 187. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: American Plaice, Hippoglossoides platessoides, Life History and Habitat Character- istics. 2nd ed. By Donna L. Johnson. August 2004. vi + 72 p., 23 figs., 6 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB2006-102421. [Online publication only.] 188. Northeast Regional Commercial Fishing Input-Output Model, by Scott R. Steinback and Eric M. Thunberg. NTIS Access. No. PB2007-104394. April 2006. v + 54 p., 2 figs, 15 tables. [Online publication only.] 189. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Sea Scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By Deborah R. Hart and Antonie S. Chute. September 2004. v + 21 p., 6 figs., 2 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB2005-104079. [Online publication only.] 190. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Atlantic Cod, Gadus morhua, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By R. Gregory Lough. November 2004. vi + 94 p., 27 figs., 5 tables, 1 app. NTIS Access. No. PB2006-101528. [Online publication only.] 191. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Northern Shortfin Squid, Illex illecebrosus, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By Lisa C. Hendrickson and Elizabeth M. Holmes. November 2004. v + 36 p., 13 figs., 1 table. NTIS Access. No. PB2005- 101437. [Online publication only.] 192. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Atlantic Herring, Clupea harengus, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By David K. Stevenson and Marcy L. Scott. July 2005. vi + 84 p., 40 figs., 7 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB2005-107567. [Online publication only.] 193. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Longfin Inshore Squid, Loligo pealeii, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By Larry D. Jacobson. August 2005. v + 42 p., 20 figs., 1 table. NTIS Access. No. PB2005-110684. [Online publication only.] 194. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments -- 2005. By Gordon T. Waring, Elizabeth Josephson, Carol P. Fairfield, and Katherine Maze-Foley, eds. Dana Belden, Timothy V.N. Cole, Lance P. Garrison, Keith D. Mullin, Christopher Orphanides, Richard M. Pace III, Debra L. Palka, Marjorie C. Rossman, and Fredrick W. Wenzel, contribs. March 2006. v + 392 p., 45 figs, 79 tables, 5 app., index. NTIS Access No. PB 2007-104395. 195. A Large Marine Ecosystem Voluntary Environmental Management System Approach to Fisheries Practices. By Frank J. Gable. December 2005. v + 84 p., 38 figs., 10 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB____-______. 196. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By Jon K.T. Brodziak. December 2005. vi + 64 p., 27 figs., 2 tables. NTIS Access. No. PB2006-103439. [Online publication only.] 197. In preparation by author. 198. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, Life History and Habitat Characteristics. 2nd ed. By Jon K.T. Brodziak. December 2005. vi + 89 p., 48 figs., 5 tables, 1 app. NTIS Access. No. PB2006-103439. [Online publication only.] 199. Distribution and Abundance of Fish Eggs Collected during the GLOBEC Broad-Scale Georges Bank Surveys, 1995-1999. By John D. Sibunka, Donna L. Johnson, and Peter L. Berrien. August 2006. iv + 72 p., 28 figs., 1 table. NTIS Access. No. PB____-______. [Online publication only.] 200. Essential Fish Habitat Source Document: Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata, Life History and Habitat Characteristics (2nd ed. By Amy F. Drohan, John P. Manderson, and David B. Packer. February 2007. vi + 68 p., 33 figs., 2 tables. NTIS Access No. PB____- ______. [Online publication only.] 201. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments -- 2006. By Gordon T. Waring, Elizabeth Josephson, Carol P. Fairfield, and Katherine Maze-Foley, eds. Dana Belden, Timothy V.N. Cole, Lance P. Garrison, Keith D. Mullin, Christopher Orphanides, Richard M. Pace III, Debra L. Palka, Marjorie C. Rossman, and Fredrick W. Wenzel, contribs. March 2007. vi + 378 p., 92 figs, 84 tables, 5 app., index. NTIS Access No. PB____-______. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-202 This series represents a secondary level of scientific publishing. All issues employ thorough internal scientific review; some issues employ external scientific review. Reviews are -- by design -- transparent collegial reviews, not anonymous peer reviews. All issues may be cited in formal scientific communications. Evaluation of Northern Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Measures in the Great South Channel of Massachusetts Richard L. Merrick and Timothy V.N. Cole National Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (ret.), Administrator National Marine Fisheries Service William T. Hogarth, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center Woods Hole, Massachusetts March 2007 Editorial Notes Species Names: The NEFSC Editorial Office’s policy on the use of species names in all technical communications is generally to follow the American Fisheries Society’s lists of scientific and common names for fishes (i.e., Robins et al. 1991aa,bb) mollusks (i.e., Turgeon et al. 1998c), and decapod crustaceans (i.e., Williams et al. 1989d), and to follow the Society for Marine Mammalogy's guidance on scientific and common names for marine mammals (i.e., Rice 1998e). Exceptions to this policy occur when there are subsequent compelling revisions in the classifications of species, resulting in changes in the names of species (e.g., Cooper and Chapleau 1998f, McEachran and Dunn 1998g). Statistical Terms: The NEFSC Editorial Office’s policy on the use of statistical terms in all technical communications is generally to follow the International Standards Organization’s handbook of statistical methods (i.e., ISO 1981h). Internet Availability: This issue of the NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE series is being copublished, i.e., as both a paper and Web document. The Web document, which will be in HTML (and thus searchable) and PDF formats, can be accessed at: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/. aRobins, C.R. (chair); Bailey, R.M.; Bond, C.E.; Brooker, J.R.; Lachner, E.A.; Lea, R.N.; Scott, W.B. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. 5th ed. Amer. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 20; 183 p. bRobins, C.R. (chair); Bailey, R.M.; Bond, C.E.; Brooker, J.R.; Lachner, E.A.; Lea, R.N.; Scott, W.B. 1991. World fishes important to North Americans. Amer. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 21; 243 p. cTurgeon, D.D. (chair); Quinn, J.F., Jr.; Bogan, A.E.; Coan, E.V.; Hochberg, F.G.; Lyons, W.G.; Mikkelsen, P.M.; Neves, R.J.; Roper, C.F.E.; Rosenberg, G.; Roth, B.; Scheltema, A.; Thompson, F.G.; Vecchione, M.; Williams, J.D. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: mollusks. 2nd ed. Amer. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 26; 526 p. dWilliams, A.B. (chair); Abele, L.G.; Felder, D.L.; Hobbs, H.H., Jr.; Manning, R.B.; McLaughlin, P.A.; Pérez Farfante, I. 1989. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: decapod crustaceans. Amer. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. 17; 77 p. eRice, D.W. 1998. Marine mammals of the world: systematics and distribution. Soc. Mar. Mammal. Spec. Publ. 4; 231 p. fCooper, J.A.; Chapleau, F. 1998. Monophyly and interrelationships of the family Pleuronectidae (Pleuronectiformes), with a revised classification. Fish. Bull. (Washington, DC) 96:686-726. gMcEachran, J.D.; Dunn, K.A. 1998. Phylogenetic analysis of skates, a morphologically conservative clade of elasmobranchs (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae). Copeia 1998(2):271-290. hISO [International Organization for Standardization]. 1981. ISO standards handbook 3: statistical methods. 2nd ed. Geneva, Switzerland: ISO; 449 p. Page 1 ABSTRACT Ship strike mortality remains one of the two primary causes for lack of recovery of the North Atlantic population of northern right whales (Eubalaena glacialis). As a result, NOAA Fisheries has identified a number of actions to reduce interactions between ships and whales. Central to this approach is the concept that ship strike mortality risk can be reduced either by slowing ships or by separating vessels and whales. More specifically, in the Great South Channel Seasonal Management Area (GSCSMA) of the southern Gulf of Maine, NOAA is considering an April–July requirement that all vessels over 300 gross tons travel no faster than 10 kts. To physically separate whales and vessels, NOAA is also considering (a) designating the Great South Channel critical habitat (GSCCH) area as an International Maritime Organization (IMO)-approved Area To Be Avoided (ATBA) and (b) narrowing (by 1 nm) the Boston Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). We analyzed the risk reduction of right whale ship strikes which could result from the above two proposals by using data on com- mercial shipping traffic and right whale sightings collected during April–July 1999–2005. During this period, 2,032 right whales were observed in the New England Mandatory Ship Reporting System (MSRS) area.