Marine  mammals can become entangled in fishing equipment such as nets or  hooks, although specific threats vary by the fishing techniques used. NMFS officials  said that funding constraints limit their ability to gather sufficient data,  although the agency has taken steps to identify its data needs. Under the MMPA,  marine mammal species are treated as stocks—populations located in a  common area that interbreed when mature. NMFS Has Not Established Teams for Many Marine Mammals That Have Met the Statutory Requirements of the MMPA for a Variety of Reasons

On the basis of NMFS’s available information, we identified 30 marine  mammal stocks that met the MMPA’s requirements for establishing a team,  and NMFS has established six teams that cover 16 of them. NMFS has not  established teams for the 14 other marine mammals that have met the  MMPA’s requirements for establishing a team for several reasons: (1) the  agency lacked sufficient funds to establish a team, (2) information about  the stock’s population size or mortality is outdated or incomplete and the  agency lacks funds to obtain better information, (3) commercial fisheries  account for little or no incidental take, or (4) the population size is  increasing; therefore establishing a team for the stock is a lower priority. False killer whales found in the waters off  the Hawaiian Islands have met the MMPA’s requirements for establishing a  team since 2004 because the stock has been strategic and interacts with a  Category I longline fishery. Outdated or incomplete data. However, NMFS did  not meet the statutory deadlines for establishing three teams—the Atlantic  Large Whale, Pelagic Longline, and Bottlenose Dolphin. Bottlenose Dolphin: NMFS lacked information about population size and  mortality for bottlenose dolphins that take reduction team members need  to consider before they can propose changes to fishing practices in a draft  take reduction plan, and NMFS scientists recommended that the agency  obtain better information before establishing a team. As a result, when incidental takes occur in fisheries covered  by take reduction regulations, it is difficult for NMFS to determine  whether the regulations were not effective in meeting the MMPA’s goals or  whether the fisheries were not complying with the regulations. Matters for Congressional Consideration

To facilitate the oversight of NMFS’s progress and capacity to meet the  statutory requirements for take reduction teams, Congress may wish to  consider taking the following three actions:    direct the Assistant Administrator of NMFS to report on major data,  resource, or other limitations that make it difficult for NMFS to accurately  determine which marine mammals meet the statutory requirements for  establishing take reduction teams; establish teams for stocks that meet  these requirements; and meet the statutory deadlines for take reduction  teams;    amend the statutory requirements for establishing a take reduction team to  stipulate that not only must a marine mammal stock be strategic and  interacting with a Category I or II fishery, but that the fishery with which  the marine mammal stock interacts causes at least occasional incidental  mortality or serious injury of that particular marine mammal stock; and    amend the MMPA to ensure that its deadlines give NMFS adequate time to  publish proposed and final take reduction plans and implementing  regulations while meeting all the requirements of the federal rulemaking  process. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objectives of this review were to determine the extent to which (1)  available data allow the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to  accurately identify the marine mammal stocks that meet the Marine  Mammal Protection Act’s (MMPA) requirements for establishing take  reduction teams, (2) NMFS has established take reduction teams for those  marine mammal stocks that meet the statutory requirements, (3) NMFS  has met the statutory deadlines established in the MMPA for the take  reduction teams subject to the deadlines and the reasons for any delays,  and (4) NMFS has developed a comprehensive strategy for evaluating the  effectiveness of the take reduction plans that have been implemented. To determine the extent to which NMFS has met the MMPA’s deadlines for  the five take reduction teams subject to the deadlines and the reasons for  any delays, we  identified five key deadlines listed in the MMPA for NMFS and take  reduction teams and interviewed officials from NOAA’s Office of General  Counsel to confirm the deadlines;   obtained and reviewed documentation, such as take reduction plans,  Federal Register notices announcing the establishment of teams, and  NMFS’s proposed and final take reduction plans and implementing  regulations published in the Federal Register;    analyzed the dates published in the Federal Register documents to  determine whether each of the five take reduction teams had met their  statutory deadlines; and,    met with NMFS officials to confirm the accuracy of our analysis of  information published in Federal Register notices.
Why GAO Did This Study

Because marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, often inhabit waters where commercial fishing occurs, they can become entangled in fishing gear, which may injure or kill them--this is referred to as "incidental take." The 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) require the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to establish take reduction teams for certain marine mammals to develop measures to reduce their incidental takes. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which NMFS (1) can accurately identify the marine mammal stocks--generally a population of animals of the same species located in a common area--that meet the MMPA's requirements for establishing such teams, (2) has established teams for those stocks that meet the requirements, (3) has met the MMPA's deadlines for the teams subject to them, and (4) evaluates the effectiveness of take reduction regulations. GAO reviewed the MMPA, and NMFS data on marine mammals, and take reduction team documents and obtained the views of NMFS officials, scientists, and take reduction team members.

What GAO Found

Significant limitations in available data make it difficult for NMFS to accurately determine which marine mammal stocks meet the statutory requirements for establishing take reduction teams. For most stocks, NMFS relies on incomplete, outdated, or imprecise data on stocks' population size or mortality to calculate the extent of incidental take. As a result, the agency may overlook some marine mammal stocks that meet the MMPA's requirements for establishing teams or inappropriately identify others as meeting them. NMFS officials told GAO they are aware of the data limitations but lack funding to implement their plans to improve the data. On the basis of NMFS's available information, GAO identified 30 marine mammal stocks that have met the MMPA's requirements for establishing a take reduction team, and NMFS has established six teams that cover 16 of them. For the other 14 stocks, the agency has not complied with the MMPA's requirements. For example, false killer whales, found off the Hawaiian Islands, have met the statutory requirements since 2004, but NMFS has not established a team for them because, according to NMFS officials, the agency lacks sufficient funds. NMFS officials told GAO that the agency has not established teams for the other stocks that meet the MMPA's requirements for reasons such as the following: (1) data on these stocks are outdated or incomplete, and the agency lacks funds to obtain better information and (2) causes other than fishery-related incidental take, such as sonar used by the U.S. Navy, may contribute to their injury or death, therefore changes to fishing practices would not solve the problem. For the five take reduction teams subject to the MMPA's deadlines, the agency has had limited success in meeting the deadlines for establishing teams, developing draft take reduction plans, and publishing proposed and final plans and regulations to implement them. For example, NMFS established three of the five teams--the Atlantic Large Whale, Pelagic Longline, and Bottlenose Dolphin--from 3 months to over 5 years past the deadline. NMFS officials attributed the delays in establishing one of the teams to a lack of information about stock population size and mortality, which teams need to consider before developing draft take reduction plans. NMFS does not have a comprehensive strategy for assessing the effectiveness of take reduction plans and implementing regulations that have been implemented. NMFS has taken some steps to define goals, monitor compliance, and assess whether the goals have been met, but shortcomings in its approach and limitations in its performance data weaken its ability to assess the success of its take reduction regulations. For example, without adequate information about compliance, if incidental takes continue once the regulations have been implemented, it will be difficult to determine whether the regulations were ineffective or whether the fisheries were not complying with them.