8/22/2023 0 Comments Dolphin fish drawingsRepresentatives from NOAA, the fishing industry, regional fishery management councils, state and federal resource management agencies, the scientific community, and conservation organizations worked together to develop the plan. To reduce deaths and serious injuries from drift gillnet commercial fishing gear off the coast of California and Oregon, NOAA Fisheries implemented the Pacific Offshore Cetacean Take Reduction Plan in 1997. Learn more about the Dolphin-Safe/Tuna Tracking and Verification Program Reducing Interactions with Fishing Gearīycatch in fishing gear is a leading cause of Pacific white-sided dolphin deaths and injuries. The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act established a national tuna tracking program to ensure that tuna imported into the United States meets certain requirements to ensure the safety of dolphins during tuna fishing operations. In some parts of the world, this close association led to the fishing practice of encircling a dolphin school to capture the tuna concentrated below. Some species of tuna are known to aggregate beneath schools of certain dolphin stocks. Scientific Classification Kingdomĭolphin-Safe/Tuna Tracking and Verification Programĭolphins, like other marine mammals, may become bycatch in fisheries. Noise interference hinders their ability to use sound, which in turn disturbs their ability to communicate, choose mates, find food, avoid predators, and navigate. Low-frequency underwater noise pollution can interrupt the normal behavior of Pacific white-sided dolphins. These fisheries were closed in 1991 and no other large-scale fisheries have operated in the central North Pacific since 1991. In addition, every year between 19, thousands of Pacific white-sided dolphins suffered mortality and serious injury when caught incidentally in high-seas fisheries for salmon and squid. Dolphins can become entangled or captured in commercial fishing gear such as gillnets, seines, trawls, trap pots, and longlines.īefore a 1933 United Nations moratorium that banned large-scale drift nets, Pacific white-sided dolphins were often captured by Japanese fisheries. One of the main threats to the Pacific white-sided dolphin is entanglement in fishing gear. We are working to help conserve this species through collaborative management, integrated science, partnerships, and outreach. NOAA Fisheries is dedicated to the conservation and protection of Pacific white-sided dolphins. A primary threat to Pacific white-sided dolphins is entanglement in fishing gear, such as gillnets and trawls. Pacific white-sided dolphins in the United States are not endangered or threatened, but they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. These extremely playful dolphins are often seen “bow riding” (swimming near the front part of a ship) and jumping, somersaulting, or even spinning in the air. They can be seen traveling in schools of thousands, but group sizes are usually between 10 and 100 animals. In the United States, Pacific white-sided dolphins live off the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. They are also sometimes known as the “hookfin porpoise” because of their large, curved dorsal fin, though they are not technically porpoises. Pacific white-sided dolphins, known for the distinct coloring that give them their name, are a playful and highly social marine mammal.
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