June 26, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Federal laws protecting marine mammals require NOAA Fisheries to take action to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries of whales in fishing gear to as close to zero as possible.
Today, NOAA Fisheries is announcing new targeted measures to reduce the risk of large whale entanglements in commercial trap/pot gear and minimize serious injuries and deaths of large whales should an entanglement occur along the US east coast.
Measures were developed with input from the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, which is a multi-stakeholder team that includes fishermen, state managers, gear specialists, non-government organizations and scientists. Management measures were modified based on public input gathered during a series of 16 public hearings along the east coast in the summer of 2013.
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