Research Priorities and Needs
for Protected Resources in the Northeast Region

Section 118 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act mandates the formation of Take Reduction Teams (TRTs) to address the serious injury and mortality of strategic marine mammal stocks that are incidentally captured in commercial fishing gear. TRTs are groups of stakeholders that develop strategies to reduce these interactions. These strategies are provided through recommendations to NOAA Fisheries Service and are implemented through Take Reduction Plans (TRPs). TRPs may include regulations and are often accompanied by non-regulatory conservation measures, such as outreach and gear research projects.

The Northeast Region PRD has implemented the following TRPs: Atlantic Large Whale, Harbor Porpoise, and Atlantic Trawl Gear. Each has its own associated research needs and priorities, which include biological as well as gear research needs, to support efforts to reduce incidental interactions with fishing gear.

• Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP)
  • ALWTRP Whale Research Matrix
  • ALWTRP Gear Research Matrix
• Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP)
  • HPTRP Research Priorities
• Atlantic Trawl Gear Take Reduction Strategy (ATGTRS)
  • ATGTRS Research Priorities

The Marine Mammal Program understands the need and importance of providing the public with outreach and educational materials that promote on-the-water stewardship and protection of living marine resources, particularly marine mammals. As such, one component of the Marine Mammal Program involves providing guidance to the public for responsible marine mammal viewing, which includes whale, dolphin, and seal watching, as well as tips for recreational boaters and fishermen, which include guidance for responsible boating and responsible recreational fishing.

While there are programs and educational materials available to assist in these efforts, priorities for research in furtherance of these efforts are provided here.

• Marine Mammal Viewing Priorities

The Sea Turtle Program works to conserve and rebuild populations of sea turtles, listed as threatened/endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), in Northeast and mid-Atlantic waters. Coordination between sea turtle research and management is critical to rebuilding populations. Threats to recovery in the marine environment include interactions with fishing gear (e.g., trawls, fixed gears, dredges), channel dredging operations, power plants, watercraft, and pollutants, among others. This matrix is intended to identify some of the research needed (based on NMFS NERO management priorities) to help recover and rebuild sea turtle populations. The matrix is divided into two sections – mortality reduction (fishery bycatch and other mortality sources) and biological information.

• Sea Turtle Program
  • Sea Turtle Research Needs

The Salmon, Sturgeon, and Species of Concern Program is dedicated to the protection and recovery of threatened or endangered marine and anadromous species such as salmon, sturgeon, and various species of concern. Research needs for these species include population and habitat monitoring, abundance estimates, tagging and tracking, genetic information, and bycatch reduction.

• Atlantic Salmon Recovery Program
  • Atlantic Salmon Research Priorities
• Shortnose Sturgeon Recovery Program
  • Shortnose Sturgeon Research Needs
• Atlantic Sturgeon Recovery Program
  • Atlantic Sturgeon Research Techniques
  • Atlantic Sturgeon Recovery Needs
• Proactive Conservation Program
  • Species of Concern Research Needs

The Northeast Region Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program was developed to provide responses to stranded marine animals. A stranding is defined as: 1) an event in the wild where a marine mammal or sea turtle is found dead on the beach or shore or floating in U.S. waters; 2) a marine mammal or sea turtle that is alive on the beach or shore, but unable to return to the water due to sickness or injury or some other obstacle; or 3) a marine mammal or sea turtle that is in the water, but unable to return to its natural habitat without assistance. NOAA Fisheries Service authorizes regional stranding network partners along the coast to respond to and collect information about stranded marine animals.

The Large Whale Disentanglement Program was created to respond to large whales that have incidentally become entangled in fishing gear. The Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network (ALWDN), which provides entanglement response coverage from Maine through Florida, was formed in the 1990s as a partnership between government, state, and local volunteers to address entanglement reports with trained, permitted, and properly equipped personnel. This program supplements existing management efforts under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) for reducing injury and mortality of large whales due to incidental interactions with commercial fishing gear.

• Northeast Region Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program
  • Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program Priorities
• Large Whale Disentanglement Program
  • Large Whale Disentanglement Program Research Needs