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U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments 2022
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2023
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[PDF-17.56 MB]
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Description:Under the 1994 amendments of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) were required to generate stock assessment reports (SARs) for all marine mammal stocks in waters within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The first reports for the Atlantic (includes the Gulf of Mexico) were published in July 1995 (Blaylock et al. 1995). The MMPA requires NMFS and USFWS to review these reports annually for strategic stocks of marine mammals and at least every three years for stocks determined to be non- strategic. Included in this report as appendices are: a summary of serious injury/mortality estimates of marine mammals in observed U.S. fisheries (Appendix I), a summary of NMFS records of large whale human-caused serious injury and mortality (Appendix II), detailed fisheries information (Appendix III), summary tables of abundance estimates generated over recent years and the surveys from which they are derived (Appendix IV), a summary of observed fisheries bycatch (Appendix V), and estimates of human- caused mortality resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Appendix VI).
Table 1 contains a summary, by species, of the information included in the stock assessments, and also indicates those that have been revised since the 2021 publication. The 2022 revisions consist primarily of updated abundance estimates and/or revised human-caused mortality and serious injury (M/SI) estimates. A total of 11 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico stock assessment reports were updated for 2022. This year, the NEFSC revised 1 stock assessment report (the “strategic” North Atlantic right whale report). For 2021, the SEFSC revised 10 reports representing 10 stocks and made a technical update to an additional report. The Rice’s whale has been identified as a unique evolutionary lineage within the Bryde’s whale complex and given official species status. Therefore, the Northern Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale SAR has been updated and is now the Northern Gulf of Mexico Rice’s whale SAR. The remaining revisions consist primarily of updated abundance estimates and revised human-caused mortality and serious injury (M/SI) estimates for common bottlenose dolphin stocks. One Western North Atlantic common bottlenose dolphin stock, the Northern South Carolina Estuarine System Stock, changed from “strategic” status to “non-strategic”. A technical update was made to the Northern Gulf of Mexico Bay, Sound, and Estuary Stocks of common bottlenose dolphin SAR that covers 23 Northern Gulf of Mexico stocks. The SAR was not revised, but a technical update was made to move Florida Bay from the Western North Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, and Florida Bay is now included within Table 1 and Figure 1, and the number of stocks in the Gulf of Mexico has been updated accordingly. No other changes or updates were made to Northern Gulf of Mexico Bay, Sound, and Estuary Stocks of common bottlenose dolphin SAR.
This report was prepared by staff of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC). NMFS staff presented the reports at the February 2022 meeting of the Atlantic Scientific Review Group (ASRG), and subsequent revisions were based on their contributions and constructive criticism. This is a working document and individual stock assessment reports will be updated as new information becomes available and as changes to marine mammal stocks and fisheries occur. The authors solicit any new information or comments which would improve future stock assessment reports.
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Rights Information:CC0 Public Domain
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