Estimates of Cetacean and Pinniped Bycatch in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Bottom Trawl Fisheries, 2013-2017

This report provides bycatch estimates, calculated by using mortality and serious injuries combined, for 6 cetacean and 2 pinniped species incidentally captured by Northeast bottom trawl (NEBT) and Mid-Atlantic bottom trawl (MABT) fishing operations from 2013 to 2017. These estimates are an update from Chavez-Rosales et al. (2018) which covers the fishing operations from 2012 to 2016. The bycatch estimation methodology does not differ from earlier years dating back to 2008 (Lyssikatos 2015; Chavez-Rosales et al. 2017). For details on the bycatch estimation methodology, please refer to recent documentation in Chavez-Rosales et al. 2018. The marine mammal species included for the 2013-2017 time period are: Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis delphis), offshore stock common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus truncatus), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus), long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas), harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena phocoena), harbor seal (Phoca vitulina vitulina), and gray seal (Halichoerus grypus atlantica). The aim of this report is to document bycatch estimates for the 5-year period 2013 through 2017 to support the US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 2019 marine mammal stock assessment reports.