Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 12-22

Update on Harbor Porpoise 

Take Reduction Plan Monitoring Initiatives: 

Compliance and Consequential Bycatch Rates 

from June 2009 through May 2010

by Christopher D. Orphanides
Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 12-22

US DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Marine Fisheries Service

Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Woods Hole, MA

October 2012

Update on Harbor Porpoise 

Take Reduction Plan Monitoring Initiatives: 

Compliance and Consequential Bycatch Rates 

from June 2009 through May 2010

by Christopher D. Orphanides

National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service,

Northeast Fisheries Science Center, 28 Tarzwell Dr., Narragansett RI 02882 USA
Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Documents

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This document may be cited as:

Orphanides CD. 2012. Update on harbor porpoise take reduction plan monitoring 

initiatives: compliance and consequential bycatch rates from June 2009 through May 

2010. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 12-22; 21 p. Available from: 

National Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1026, or 

online at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/
ii 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 

Methods and Data ........................................................................................................................... 2 

Bycatch and Compliance ............................................................................................................. 2 

Results ............................................................................................................................................. 3 

1998 HPTRP Compliance ........................................................................................................... 3 

Bycatch Rates .............................................................................................................................. 5 

Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 6 

References Cited ............................................................................................................................. 9 
iii 

ABSTRACT 

Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) compliance and bycatch rate analyses 

are updated for US Northwestern Atlantic gillnet fisheries using data from June 2009 through 

May 2010 (the 2009-2010 fishing season). The observed overall compliance rate with the 

HPTRP regulations was 46.3%. By region, the New England gillnet fishery had a compliance 

rate of 43.0%, while the Mid-Atlantic gillnet fishery had a compliance rate of 55.4%. 

Compliance with pinger regulations was determined solely by the number of pingers observed on 

a gillnet string; pinger functionality was not considered in the compliance rates because pinger 

functionality data for the 2009-2010 fishing season was limited to six trips. Bycatch rates from 

the 2009-2010 fishing season were compared to the regulations of the 1998 and 2010 HPTRP 

final rules, even though some of the 2010 HPTRP amendments were not implemented until 

March 22, 2010, and most were implemented after the completion of the 2009-2010 fishing 

season. All but two of the observed takes in the 2009-2010 fishing season occurred in times and 

areas that were either managed under the 1998 HPTRP regulations, or managed under the 2010 

HPTRP amendments. Bycatch rates in the 2010 HPTRP areas associated with Consequence 

Closure Areas (CCAs) were well above the target rates that could trigger seasonal closures after 

the 2011-2012 fishing season. The bycatch rate in the 1998 and 2010 HPTRP Management 

Areas in nets that did not have the required number of pingers (0.058 harbor porpoise/mton 

landed) was higher than the bycatch rate from nets with the required number of pingers in the 

same times and areas (0.049 harbor porpoise/mton landed). However, the relative difference 

between these two rates has been greater in previous years. Pingers still appeared to reduce 

bycatch of harbor porpoises, although it was not possible to determine how many of the pingers 

deployed were actually functional and what the true bycatch rate was when a full set of working 

pingers was used. 
1 

INTRODUCTION 

Since the beginning of the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) in 1989, 

harbor porpoise bycatch in gillnets has been the focus of much attention. Over the years, two 

Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) final rules have been put in place to reduce the 

serious injury and mortality of the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy stock of harbor porpoises 

(Phocoena phocoena). The first HPTRP final rule was announced on Dec 2, 1998 (63 FR 66464) 

and implemented on January 1, 1999. From here on, these HPTRP regulations will be referred to 

as the 1998 HPTRP. Shortly after the 1998 HPTRP was implemented, a sharp decline in harbor 

porpoise bycatch occurred. 

Since the implementation of the 1998 HPTRP, a meeting of the Harbor Porpoise Take 

Reduction Team (HPTRT) was convened in December 2007 in response to recent harbor 

porpoise bycatch estimates that were above the stock’s Potential Biological Removal1 (PBR) 

level. The aim of this HPTRT meeting was to develop management actions that would reduce 

harbor porpoise bycatch in New England and Mid-Atlantic gillnet fisheries to levels below the 

stock’s PBR and approaching the Zero Mortality Rate Goal (ZMRG), which is defined as 10% of 

PBR. To meet these goals, the meeting focused on addressing non-compliance with the HTPRP 

as well as harbor porpoise bycatch occurring outside of the 1998 HPTRP Management Areas 

(MAs). 

In January 2008, the HPTRT discussions continued to address modifications to the 1998 

HPTRP during a follow-up conference call. Based on the recommendations received from the 

HPTRT, NMFS published a proposed rule (74 FR 36058) on July 21, 2009 to amend the 1998 

HPTRP. The modifications included an expansion of current HPTRP MAs, new management 

measures, implementation of a “consequence” closure area strategy in New England, and 

increased enforcement, monitoring, and outreach efforts. 

On February 19, 2010 NMFS published a final rule (75 FR 7383) amending the 1998 

HPTRP, which was virtually unchanged from the proposed rule. From here on, these HPTRP 

amendments will be referred to as the 2010 HPTRP. The 2010 HPTRP includes the same 

requirements and MAs as the 1998 HPTRP, with the following additions: 1) slight expansion in 

the size of the Massachusetts Bay MA as well as the pinger regulated season to include the 

month of November; 2) creation of the Stellwagen Bank MA (requiring pingers from November 

through May) and the Southern New England MA (requiring pingers from December through 

May); 3) implementation of the “consequence” closure area strategy; 4) creation of the Mudhole 

South MA in the Mid-Atlantic; 5) modification to the tie-down spacing requirement on large 

mesh gillnets in the Mid-Atlantic; and 6) slight modification to the northern boundary of the 

Waters off New Jersey. 

On March 17, 2010 NMFS delayed the effective date for implementing new pinger 

requirements in the Stellwagen Bank and Southern New England MA from March 22, 2010 to 

September 15, 2010 (75 FR 12699). This was due to concerns expressed by members of the 

gillnet fishing industry regarding the lack of availability of pingers and the short time required to 

 

1

 PBR is defined as the maximum number of animals that may be removed from a marine mammal stock while 

allowing that stock to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population. For the specifics on the harbor porpoise 

PBR, see the harbor porpoise stock assessment chapter in the most recent report on the US Atlantic and Gulf of 

Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments (Waring et al. 2011) 

(http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/tm219/) 
2 

complete mandatory pinger authorization training. However, all other new 2010 HPTRP 

requirements became effective March 22, 2010. 

One of the key new components of the 2010 HPTRP to address non-compliance is the 

Consequence Closure Area (CCA) strategy. Under this strategy, if the average bycatch rate from 

two consecutive management seasons in areas associated with a CCA exceeds a specified target 

bycatch rate, a seasonal closure of that CCA would be triggered. The CCA strategy involves 

three potential seasonal closure areas; these areas overlap with existing MAs. The Coastal Gulf 

of Maine CCA overlaps with the Mid-Coast, Stellwagen Bank, and Massachusetts Bay MAs. 

The Eastern Cape Cod and Cape Cod South Expansion CCAs overlap with the Southern New 

England MA (Figure 1C). A plan to monitor the effectiveness of and compliance with the 

HPTRP was developed along with an improved enforcement strategy (NOAA Fisheries PRD 

2010). Compliance with the HPTRP requirements is critical to maximizing the effectiveness of 

the HPTRP, and the development of the monitoring plan and enforcement strategy were intended 

to contribute significantly toward achieving the goals and objectives of the HPTRP. For more 

information on the 1998 and 2010 HPTRP regulations, view the NOAA Fisheries Service 

Northeast Regional Office’s HPTRP website at: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/hptrp. 

This paper reports the observed compliance rates with the 1998 and 2010 HPTRP 

requirements, and the observed bycatch rates for the HPTRP MAs using data collected during 

June 2009 through May 2010 (referred to as the 2009-2010 fishing season). However, it should 

be emphasized that the 2010-2011 fishing season was the first of two consecutive fishing seasons 

used to evaluate bycatch rates within potential CCAs. The fishing season evaluated in this paper 

(2009-2010) was not used to evaluate a potential CCA. It is assumed that the 2009-2010 fishing 

season bycatch rates may not be an accurate indication of bycatch rates after the full 

implementation of the 2010 HPTRP amendments. 

This paper can be considered an update to the series of papers that reviewed bycatch rates 

and HPTRP compliance for the past two fishing seasons (2007-2008 and 2008-2009, Orphanides 

et al. 2009 and Orphanides 2010, respectively). The Orphanides et al. (2009) paper also 

discussed pinger tester development, while the present paper will update this and report on the 

deployment of pinger testers during the 2009-2010 season. 

METHODS AND DATA 

Bycatch and Compliance 

The NEFOP data were used to calculate bycatch and compliance rates. Bycatch rates 

were calculated as the number of observed harbor porpoise takes per observed metric tons 

(mtons) of live fish landed. Recorded dressed landed weights were converted to live weights 

using established conversion factors (Warden and Orphanides 2008). Metric tons of fish landed 

were used to calculate bycatch rates to be consistent with how annual harbor porpoise bycatch 

estimates are calculated (e.g., Orphanides 2010), and because 2010 HPTRP CCAs are tied to 

bycatch rates using this unit of effort. Landings are used to calculate annual harbor porpoise 

bycatch estimates because landings are the only unit of effort that are both statistically 

appropriate and available in the databases used to estimate the bycatch for the total fishery 

(Orphanides and Palka 2007). 

Rare missing values in the NEFOP database were imputed using medians from 

representative strata using methods described in Warden and Orphanides (2008). After imputing 

missing values from representative strata, 3.5% (125 out of 3525) of the observed hauls still had 
3 

missing values in the variables used in the bycatch and compliance analysis. Two hauls with 

incidental harbor porpoise takes were missing twine size information. One haul was in the 

Waters off New Jersey where twine size is regulated, though the other haul was in the Gulf of 

Maine where twine size is not regulated under the HPTRP. Mesh size was recorded on all 

observed hauls. For 99.2% (3496 out of 3525) of the hauls, mesh size was recorded as a single 

value, for 0.8% of the hauls (28 of 3525), it was recorded as minimum and maximum values, and 

one value was imputed from other mesh sizes on the trip. When a minimum and maximum range 

was recorded, a simple average of these two mesh sizes was used in this analysis. Twine size was 

imputed on 5.8% of the observed hauls (203 out of 3525), which accounted for most of the 

imputed values used in this analysis. Out of 707 hauls observed using tie-downs, ten hauls (1.4% 

of those using tie-downs) were observed as having used tie-downs without recording the length 

of the tie-downs, and one of these hauls had an incidental take of harbor porpoise. However, 

none of these occurred within HPTRP MAs and so do not impact compliance calculations. 

Latitude and longitude was imputed for 17 (0.5%) out of 3525 hauls, and was missing for 36 

(1.0%) hauls. These missing locations were left unknown and therefore were not included when 

compliance and bycatch information was summarized by area. The number of pingers on a haul 

was not recorded for 1.0% of hauls with known pinger use (6 out of 588). For these hauls, the 

number of pingers also could not be determined from examination of the NEFOP gear logs and 

observer comments. However, none of these six hauls had observed harbor porpoise bycatch. 

Recorded gear configurations were used to check for HPTRP compliance. The gear 

requirements that were checked within the time/areas defined within the HPTRP included: pinger 

use, net length, twine size, number of nets per string, tie-down length, and tie-down use. 

Additionally, compliance with seasonal HPTRP closures to gillnet fishing was examined. In the 

Mid-Atlantic for large mesh and small mesh gillnets, the regulations for the tie-down spacing 

and number of nets per vessel were not investigated because this information was not recorded 

on observer logs. 

Pinger functionality was assessed for the six trips where pinger testers were employed. 

For these six trips, the total percentage of functional pingers was quantified, as was the true 

compliance (where pingers were both functional and present in the proper number). However, 

since limited pinger functionality data was available for this time period, pinger functionality 

data were not included in the compliance calculations. 

In the New England gillnet fisheries during times and areas where pingers are required, a 

typical gillnet string with 10 300-ft long nets is required to have 11 working pingers on the string 

(one pinger on each end of the string, and one in between each net). The presence of the proper 

number of pingers was assessed. In addition, pinger use in less than the required numbers was 

also assessed to examine attempted compliance and to provide a complete investigation of pinger 

use in the fishery. However, it is thought that only the use of the proper number of functional 

pingers will achieve bycatch reduction goals (Palka et al. 2008). It is also important to note that 

the pinger compliance for this analysis did not assess whether pingers were functioning properly, 

but simply whether the required number of pingers was present on nets. 

RESULTS 

1998 HPTRP Compliance 

The overall observed compliance rate to the HPTRP for the period June 2009 – May 

2010 was 46.3% (Table 1). The total observed compliance rate for New England was 43.0%, 
4 

with the highest New England compliance rate within the Cape Cod South MA (85.2%), and 

lowest rate within the Offshore MA (21.3%). No hauls were observed in the Northeast Closure 

Area or in the Cashes Ledge Closure Area when they were closed to gillnets. The Mid-Atlantic 

had similarly poor compliance rates, with an overall rate of 55.4%. The highest Mid-Atlantic 

compliance rate was within the small mesh hauls in the Waters off New Jersey MA (87.5%), and 

the lowest rate among areas with more than one haul observed was within the large mesh hauls 

in the Southern Mid-Atlantic MA (29.0%). For a description of the 1998 HPTRP regulations see 

Table 2 and Figures 1A and 1B. 

In the New England sink gillnet fishery, all non-compliant hauls were out of compliance 

because they did not have the required number of pingers. No fishing was observed in areas 

closed to all gillnet fishing (Table 3). Among the pingered hauls in the 1998 HPTRP New 

England MAs, 21.5% (98 out of 455) contained greater than or equal to 90%, but less than 100% 

of the required number of pingers (Table 4). It is important to note that the pinger compliance for 

this analysis did not assess whether pingers were functioning properly, but simply whether the 

required number of pingers was present on the nets. 

Outside of the 1998 HPTRP New England MAs that required pingers, 7.6% (84 out of 

1099) of the observed New England hauls used pingers in a fashion that would be compliant, if 

they were within a MA requiring pingers (Table 4). Roughly two thirds of these New England 

pingered hauls outside of 1998 HPTRP MAs occurred within the 2010 HPTRP Stellwagen Bank 

and Southern New England MAs (35.7%, 30 out of 84, and 33.3%, 28 out of 84, respectively). 

Pinger testers were present on 7 trips during the study period, 4 in December 2009, 2 in 

January 2010 (Table 5), and 1 in March 2010. These trips comprised 22 hauls, though 7 hauls 

had no pingers on the nets and were not included in this summary, including all 4 hauls on the 

March 2010 trip. Of the observed pinger tester hauls with pingers on the nets, 9 were in the MidCoast MA, 3 in the Massachusetts Bay MA, and 3 in the 2010 Stellwagen Bank MA. No harbor 

porpoise were incidentally caught on any of the trips where pinger testers were present. Seventynine percent of pingers tested were working. On roughly half of the tested hauls (8 of 15), all 

pingers that were present were working, though they may not have had the proper number of 

pingers. Among the tested hauls, 6 had the proper number of pingers present, but only 1 of these 

had all pingers working. A third of these (2 of 6) were in the 2010 Stellwagen Bank MA, where 

pingers were not yet required. On a third of the tested hauls (5 of 15) it was reported that at least 

one pinger was lost. This loss rate is much higher than that reported on observed hauls with 

pingers that did not have the pinger testers. Only 6 of 573 (1.0%) New England hauls deployed 

with pingers, but without pinger testers, reported a pinger lost. 

Only half of the observed hauls (6/12) with incidental harbor porpoise takes within 1998 

HPTRP MAs were compliant with the 1998 HPTRP regulations (Table 6). Among the 6 noncompliant hauls in the New England 1998 HPTRP MAs, 5 Mid-Coast MA hauls used pingers, 

but not enough to be compliant. In addition, 10 hauls with a total of 11 takes occurred in the area 

that would become the Southern New England 2010 HPTRP MA, which was not in place at the 

time of the takes. These incidental takes occurred in two primary areas; 6 occurred in the 

southern portion of the area that would become the Southern New England MA, and 5 occurred 

on 4 hauls east of Cape Cod (Figure 2). 

In the Mid-Atlantic 1998 HPTRP MAs, 8 harbor porpoises were taken on 4 hauls, three 

of which were compliant with closed area and gear modification requirements (no pingers are 

required in the Mid-Atlantic) (Table 6). The non-compliant haul was non-compliant due to 

exceeding the maximum required tie down length. This haul also took place in a time and area 
5 

that would be closed under the 2010 HPTRP (Mudhole South MA); however, the final rule 

amending the HPTRP became effective on March 22, 2010, which was after the seasonal closure 

of this area would have taken place (February 1 through March 15). Therefore, the area was not 

closed at the time the take occurred. All Mid-Atlantic hauls with takes occurred in the Waters off 

New Jersey MA in hauls with large mesh. 

In the Mid-Atlantic, 19.7% (17 out of 86) of all non-compliant hauls occurred in a closed 

area (Tables 1 and 3). The majority of non-compliant hauls (89.5%, 77 out of 86) occurred on 

large mesh strings. More than a third (37.2%, or 32 out of 86) of non-compliant Mid-Atlantic 

hauls exceeded the limit on the number of nets per haul. Among non-compliant hauls, only a 

handful (3.5%, 3 out of 86) had multiple violations, such as having too many nets on a string and 

not fishing with tie-downs on the same string (Table 2). 

Bycatch Rates 

The observed harbor porpoise bycatch rate in the Mid-Coast MA (0.091 harbor 

porpoise/mton landed) was the highest of any MA in New England (Table 7). The bycatch rate in 

the neighboring 1998 HPTRP version of the Massachusetts Bay MA (prior to its slight expansion 

in the 2010 HPTRP) (0.088 harbor porpoise/mton landed) was just slightly lower than in the 

Mid-Coast. The bycatch rate within the Cape Cod South MA was 0.032 harbor porpoise/mton 

landed. The 2010 HPTRP expanded that area to the Southern New England MA (see Figure 1), 

and the bycatch rate within that larger area was higher at 0.075 harbor porpoise/mton landed 

because the bycatch rate within the additional area was high (0.085 harbor porpoise/mton 

landed). The difference between these two regions is likely real, but could be due in part to a 

more than three times larger sample size in the Southern New England area outside of the Cape 

Cod South MA. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Offshore MA and the 2010 HPTRP 

Stellwagen Bank MA both had more than 160 hauls observed and each had an observed bycatch 

rate of zero. Also non-HPTRP areas had a low bycatch rate of 0.007 harbor porpoise/mton 

landed. 

Bycatch rates in the Mid-Atlantic varied considerably by area. An extremely high 

bycatch rate of 0.500 harbor porpoise/mton landed was observed in the Waters off New Jersey 

MA (Table 7). This excludes the Mudhole North MA, but includes the area of the Mudhole 

South MA. The Mudhole South MA was part of the Waters off New Jersey MA during this time, 

prior to the creation of the Mudhole South MA as a separate area with more stringent 

requirements. But, no matter how the area is divided up, the end result is a very high bycatch rate 

in the region off New Jersey (0.418 harbor porpoise/mton landed in Waters off New Jersey, 

Mudhole South, and Mudhole North MAs combined). No takes were observed in the Southern 

Mid-Atlantic. 

Bycatch rates in areas associated with 2010 HPTRP CCAs were well above the 2010 

HPTRP target bycatch rates. The combined bycatch rate for the areas associated with the Coastal 

Gulf of Maine CCA was 0.060 harbor porpoise/mton landed, or nearly twice the HPTRP 2010 

target rate for that area (0.031 harbor porpoise/mton landed) (Table 7). The bycatch rate for the 

area associated with the Eastern Cape Cod and Cape Cod South Expansion CCAs was 0.075 

harbor porpoise/mton landed, or more than three times the 2010 HPTRP target bycatch rate for 

that area (0.023 harbor porpoise/mton landed). However, it should be emphasized that the 2010 

HPTRP CCA management measures were not in place during the fishing season evaluated in this 

paper, June 2009 – May 2010. Monitoring of the areas associated with the Consequence Closure 

Areas began on September 15, 2010. 
6 

Among the 29 harbor porpoises observed incidentally taken during the 2009-2010 

management seasons, only 2 (6.9%) were taken outside of the 1998 or 2010 HPTRP 

management times and areas. More than a third of the observed incidental takes (11 out of 29 

harbor porpoises) were observed in areas that were not historically regulated under the 1998 

HPTRP, but would be included in the 2010 HPTRP amendments. The remainder (16 harbor 

porpoises, 62.1%) occurred within the 1998 HPTRP MAs (Figure 2 and Tables 6 and 7). One of 

these 16 animals was observed in waters that would be closed under the 2010 HPTRP as part of 

the Mudhole South MA, but was open at the time as a part of the Waters off New Jersey MA. 

Among observed hauls in New England, the additional 2010 HPTRP MAs had a higher bycatch 

rate (0.065 harbor porpoise/mton landed) than the 1998 HPTRP MAs (0.047 harbor 

porpoises/mton landed) and non-HPTRP times and areas (0.007 harbor porpoises/mton landed) 

(Table 7). 

Bycatch rates with compliant pinger use varied by MA, where compliance is defined 

solely in terms of using the correct number of pingers because the functionality of the pingers is 

unknown (Table 8). Overall, the bycatch rate in the 1998 or 2010 HPTRP MAs was only about 

16% less on compliant pingered hauls (0.049 harbor porpoise/mton landed) than on noncompliant hauls (0.058 harbor porpoises/mton landed) that had less than the required number of 

pingers for the same times and areas. It should also be noted that the more than two-thirds of 

observed hauls had fewer than the required number of pingers. The bycatch rate for compliant 

Mid-Coast MA hauls was far less than for non-compliant Mid-Coast MA hauls. However, the 

bycatch rates were higher in the Cape Cod South and Massachusetts Bay MAs in non-compliant 

hauls as compared to compliant hauls, though in each case only one take was observed in the 

compliant MA hauls (Table 8). 

DISCUSSION 

Compliance levels for the 2009-2010 fishing season were similar to those of the previous 

fishing season (2008-2009) in the Mid-Atlantic, and worse in New England. In the Mid-Atlantic, 

this season’s compliance (55.4%) was about the same as in the previous management season 

(56.3%), though it was still poor. Compliance in New England this season (43.0%) was quite a 

bit lower than during the 2008-2009 fishing season (51.9%) (Orphanides 2010b). This fishing 

season’s compliance in large mesh in the Southern Mid-Atlantic and Offshore MAs was 

particularly low (29.0% and 21.3%, respectively) (Table 1), though no harbor porpoise incidental 

takes were observed in either MA. In contrast, the small mesh Southern Mid-Atlantic MA and 

the Cape Cod South MA both had compliance rates over 80% (Table 1). These compliance levels 

were associated with no observed bycatch in the Southern Mid-Atlantic MA, and one bycatch 

event in the Cape Cod South MA. As in past years, no hauls were observed in New England 

closed areas, while several were observed in Mid-Atlantic closed areas (Table 3) (Orphanides et 

al. 2009, Orphanides 2010b). 

New England pinger compliance rates presented in this paper are likely to be an overestimate of the actual compliance rates if the limited sample of pinger tester data is 

representative of the fishery. For the vast majority of observed hauls, it was not known whether 

the pingers present were functional. However, of the 15 hauls for which pingers were tested, only 

one haul (6.7%) had the proper number of pingers on the nets and all of the pingers working. 

Looking more broadly, just over half, or 8 of 15, of the hauls tested had all present pingers on 

each string functioning, however, 7 of 8 did not have the proper number of pingers on their nets. 

Admittedly, this is a small sample of tested hauls, but if the results are representative of actual 
7 

pinger functionality, then the actual compliance rate estimate would be half or less than the 

estimates presented here in Table 1, and thus would be at or below the 20 percent range. 

Very high bycatch rates (0.500 harbor porpoise/mton) and limited compliance (59.7%) in 

the Waters off New Jersey continue to be a problem, though observed effort during the MA time 

period is limited (Table 7). A high bycatch rate in the 2010 HPTRP Southern New England MA 

shows the importance of this MA in limiting future bycatch. The bycatch rate in Southern New 

England (not including Cape Cod South MA) during the 2009-2010 season (0.085 harbor 

porpoise/mton) was less than during the 2008-2009 season (0.117 harbor porpoise/mton), though 

it was still among the highest rates observed in New England. In contrast, no incidental takes 

were observed in the 2010 HPTRP Stellwagen Bank MA in the 2009-2010 season, whereas 

bycatch rates in this area had very high bycatch rates in the previous two management seasons 

(0.320 harbor porpoise/mton in 2008-2009 and 0.302 harbor porpoise/mton in 2007-2008) 

(Orphanides et. al. 2009, Orphanides 2010). On the other hand, the Massachusetts Bay MA, right 

next to Stellwagen Bank MA, had one of the highest MA bycatch rates in New England for the 

2009-2010 season. 

Despite the lack of observed bycatch in the Stellwagen Bank MA, bycatch patterns for 

the 2009-2010 fishing season looked fairly similar to those from the previous fishing seasons 

(Orphanides et al. 2009, Orphanides 2010b). As in the past, the majority of the bycatch occurred 

in either 1998 or 2010 HPTRP MAs, with very little bycatch occurring outside of 1998 and 2010 

MAs. Clusters of bycatch occurred in the Hudson Canyon region (in the general area of the 

Mudhole North, Mudhole South, and Waters off New Jersey MAs), south of the Cape Cod South 

MA but within the 2010 HPTRP Southern New England MA, and in the Gulf of Maine in the 

region of Massachusetts Bay, and southern Mid-Coast MA (Figure 2). Another similarity to 

previous management seasons was that the bycatch rates in the CCA-associated areas were over 

twice the target rate needed to avoid closures in the future. However, it should be noted that the 

2010 HPTRP management measures, including some new pinger requirements, were not yet in 

place for the 2009-2010 season. 

A change from previous management seasons was the contrast between bycatch rates on 

hauls with the full complement of pingers versus those with fewer than the required number of 

pingers. In the previous two seasons, the bycatch rates on hauls with the proper number of 

pingers were on average roughly 50-70% less than those on hauls without the required number of 

pingers (Orphanides et al. 2009, Orphanides 2010b). This corresponds with the differences in 

bycatch rates Palka et al. (2008) found in earlier years between hauls with the required number 

of pingers and non-pingered hauls. During the 2009-2010 fishing season, the bycatch rate on 

hauls with a full complement of pingers was still lower than non-pinger compliant hauls, though 

the difference was not as great (0.049 versus 0.058 harbor porpoise/mton landed). As with all 

bycatch rates, annual variability is expected. So, this outcome could simply reflect that 

variability. 

Pinger functionality, or lack thereof, could be playing a role in these bycatch rates. For 

most hauls, it was not known whether pingers present were functional. Using data collected in 

previous years, it appears that bycatch rates increase on nets with some pingers, but not the 

proper number (Palka et al. 2008). So, the relatively high bycatch rates on hauls with a full 

complement of pingers could be explained if a high enough portion of these nets contained 

pingers that were not working. Alternatively, the difference in compliant and non-compliant 

bycatch rates could be influenced by unequal sample sizes of hauls with and without pingers in 

many MAs. Overall, the number of hauls with a full complement of pingers was less than half 
8 

the number of hauls without a full complement of pingers. However, in the Mid-Coast MA the 

sample size was relatively large, and the number of hauls with a full complement of pingers was 

fairly similar to the number of hauls without the required number of pingers. In this region with 

similar sample sizes, the bycatch rate was far lower on pinger-compliant hauls as compared to 

that on pinger non-compliant hauls (0.033 versus 0.142 harbor porpoise/mton landed). 

Reducing bycatch in the US Northwest Atlantic gillnet fisheries is largely dependent on 

compliance with HPTRP regulations. Pingers need to be both present in the proper numbers, and 

functioning properly to be an effective deterrent to harbor porpoise bycatch (Palka et al. 2008). 

Pinger functionality is beginning to be assessed by NEFOP, but the sample size for the 2009-

2010 fishing season was not large enough to get an accurate picture of how many pingers are 

functioning and to what extent present but non-functioning pingers are affecting the bycatch 

rates of strings with a full complement of pingers. 
9 

REFERENCES CITED 

NOAA Fisheries, Protected Species Division (PRD). 2010. Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction 

Plan Monitoring Strategy: Monitoring the Effectiveness and Regulatory Compliance of 

the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP). p18. Available from: 

http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/

Orphanides CD, Palka DL. MS 2007. Landings: the Unit of Effort for Bycatch Rates in Gillnet 

Fishing Gear. Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Team (HPTRP) Meeting Materials. 

Binder Document 3d. Available from National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast 

Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 01930-2298. 

Orphanides CD. 2010. Estimates of Cetacean and Pinniped Bycatch in the 2007 and 2008 

Northeast Sink Gillnet and Mid-Atlantic Gillnet Fisheries. US Dept Commer, Northeast 

Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 10-10; 45 p. Available from: National Marine Fisheries Service, 

166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1026 or 

http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/crd/

Orphanides CD. 2010b. Update on Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan Monitoring Initiatives: 

Compliance and Consequential Bycatch Rates from June 2008 through May 2009. US 

Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 10-22; 23 p.Available from: National 

Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1026, or online at

http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/crd/

Orphanides CD, Wetmore S, Johnson A. 2009. Update on Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan 

Monitoring Initiatives: Compliance and Consequential Bycatch Rates from June 2007 

through May 2008, Pinger Tester Development and Enforcement from January 2008 

through July of 2009. US Dept Commer, Northeast Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 09-14; 16 p. 

Available from: National Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 

02543-1026 or http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/crd/

Palka DL, Rossman, MC, VanAtten, AS, and CD Orphanides. 2008. Effect of pingers on harbour 

porpoise bycatch in the US northeast gillnet fishery. J. Cetacean Res. Manage. 10(3):217-

226. 

Warden ML, Orphanides CD. 2008. Preparation of the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program 

gillnet data for use in bycatch analyses of protected species. US Dept Commer, Northeast 

Fish Sci Cent Ref Doc. 08-17; 44 p. Available from: National Marine Fisheries Service, 

166 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1026 or 

http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/crd/

Waring GT, Josephson E, Maze-Foley K, Rosel, PE, editors. 2011. U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of 

Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments -- 2010. NOAA Tech Memo NMFS NE 

219; 598 p. Available from: National Marine Fisheries Service, 166 Water Street, Woods 

Hole, MA 02543-1026, or online at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/tm/

 
10 

Table 1. Observed compliance during June 2009 – May 2010 to the 1998 Harbor Porpoise Take 

Reduction Plan (HPTRP), by time period and Management Area (MA). Percent compliance was 

calculated using only those hauls for which compliance was known (i.e., hauls with unknown 

compliance were removed from the count of total hauls for the calculation). See footnotes and 

Table 3 for additional non-compliance details. 

Time Period Management Area

Total 

Observed 

Hauls in 

Compliance

Total 

Observed 

Hauls in NonCompliance

Hauls with 

Unknown 

Compliance

Total 

Observed 

Hauls

Percent 

Compliant 

Hauls

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Cape Cod South 52 9 0 61 85.2

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 MassBay 29 39 0 68 42.6

Sep 15 ‐ May 31 MidCoast 110 120 6§ 236 47.8

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Offshore 36 133 0 169 21.3

New England Total 227 301 6 534 43.0

Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Mudhole North Large Mesh 7 4 0 11 63.6

Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Mudhole North Small Mesh ‐‐‐ 0 NA

Mar 22* ‐ Apr 30 Mudhole South Large Mesh 0 1 0 1 0.0

Feb 1 ‐ Apr 30 Southern Mid‐Atlantic Large Mesh 18 44 0 62 29.0

Feb 1 ‐ Apr 30 Southern Mid‐Atlantic Small Mesh 39 8 0‡ 47 83.0

Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh 36 28 5+ 69 56.3

Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Waters off New Jersey Small Mesh 7 1 0 8 87.5

Mid-Atlantic Total 107 86 5 198 55.4

All Areas Total 334 387 11 732 46.3

§ Pinger use could not be evaluated for 6 Mid‐Coast Management Area hauls because the number of pingers was not

   recorded.

* 2010 HPTRP Mudhole South MA was implemented March 22, 2010

‡

Three Southern Mid‐Atlantic  Small Mesh  hauls had unknown compliance in one gear modification requirement,

  however, these hauls were also non‐compliant in other gear requirements and so are counted in the non‐compliant

  column.

+

In addition to the 5 Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh hauls with unknown compliance presented here,  4 other hauls

  had unknown compliance with regards to some gear modification requirement. However, these 4  were also

  non‐compliant for other gear modifications, and thus were included in the non‐compliant count.
11 

Table 2. 1998 Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) management measures for large and 

small mesh nets in the Mid-Atlantic gillnet fishery that were in effect during June 2009 – May 2010. 

Note, a net tagging program for both large and small mesh nets was specified in the 1998 HPTRP, 

but was repealed in the 2010 HPTRP. 

LARGE MESH GILLNETS (7 inches to 18 inches) 

Floatline length: 

 NJ Mudhole <= 3,900 ft 

 NJ waters (excluding the Mudhole) <= 4,800 ft 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters <= 3,900 ft 

Twine Size >= 0.90 mm 

Tie Downs 

Required; spaced not more than 15 ft apart along 

floatline; not more than 48 inches in length 

Net Number per Vessel <= 80 nets 

Net Size <= 300 ft 

Number of Nets within a Net String 

 NJ Mudhole <= 13 nets 

 NJ waters (excluding the Mudhole) <= 16 nets 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters <= 13 nets 

Time/Area Closures: 

 NJ waters (including the Mudhole) Closed from Apr 1 – 20 

 NJ Mudhole Closed from Feb 15 – Mar 15, April 1 -20 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters Closed from Feb 15 – Mar 15 

Gear Modification Requirements: 

 NJ waters (excluding the Mudhole) Jan 1 – Mar 30 and Apr 21 – 30 

 NJ Mudhole Jan 1 – Feb 14; Mar 16 – Mar 31; and Apr 21 – 30 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters Feb 1 – Feb 14 and Mar 16 – Apr 30 

 

SMALL MESH GILLNETS (> 5 inches to < 7 inches) 

Floatline length: 

 NJ waters (including the Mudhole) <= 3,000 ft 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters <= 2,118 ft 

Twine Size >= 0.81 mm 

Tie Downs Prohibited 

Net Number per Vessel <= 45 nets 

Net Size <= 300 ft 

Number of Nets within a Net String 

 NJ Waters (including the Mudhole) <= 10 nets 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters <= 7 nets 

Time/Area Closures: 

 NJ Mudhole Closed from Feb 15 - Mar 15 

Gear Modification Requirements: 

 NJ waters (excluding Mudhole) Jan 1 – Apr 30 

 NJ Mudhole Jan 1 – Feb 14 and Mar 16 – Apr 30 

 Southern Mid-Atlantic waters Feb 1 – Apr 30 
12 

Table 3. Observed compliance with the 1998 Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) regulations categorizeinfraction. NA indicates violation category is not applicable to the row’s specific time and management area. For aHPTRPs, see Table 2 or the NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Regional Office’s HPTRP website at: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/prot_res/porptrp/

General Violation Categories Specific Violation Categ

Time Period 1998 HPTRP Management Area

Total 

Observed 

Hauls

Total 

Observed 

Hauls in NonCompliance 

/ Unknown 

Compliance

Gear 

Modification Closed Area

Multiple 

Violations 

Per Haul Pingers

Number of 

Nets

Twine 

Size

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Cape Cod South 61 9 9 0 0 9 NA NA Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Massachusetts Bay 68 39 39 0 0 39 NA NA Sep 15 ‐ May 31 Mid-Coast* 236 126/6 120 0 0 120 NA NA Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Offshore 169 133 133 0 0 133 NA NA Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Mudhole North Large Mesh 11 4 4 0 0 NA 4 0 Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Mudhole North Small Mesh 0 - - - - NA - - Mar 22‡‐ Apr 30 Mudhole South Large Mesh 1 1 1 0 0010Feb 1 ‐ Apr 30 Southern Mid‐Atlantic Large Mesh 62 44 27 17 3 NA 2 14 Feb 1 ‐ Apr 30 Southern Mid‐Atlantic Small Mesh† 47 8/3 8 0 0 NA 5 3 Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh# 69 28/9 28 0 0 NA 20 0 Jan 1 ‐ Apr 30 Waters off New Jersey Small Mesh 8 1 3 0 0 NA 0 0 * Pinger use could not be evaluated for 6 Mid‐Coast Management Area hauls because the number of pingers was not recorded.‡ 2010 HPTRP Mudhole South MA was implemented March 22, 2010. During the 2009‐2010 HPTRP fishing year this area was within the Waters off New Jers

would span from Jan1 through Apr 30

† Three observed Southern Mid‐Atlantic Small Mesh hauls had unknown number of nets but were also non‐compliant with another gear modification req

# Nine Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh hauls had unknown twine size, though 4 of these hauls were also non‐compilant with another gear requiremen
13 

Table 4. New England pinger use percentages by 1998 and 2010 Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTR(MAs). Percentages shown are the percentage of all hauls observed within the time/area specified for that particulpinger usage (full compliance) means the string has the required number of pingers as defined by the HPTRPpinger on each end of the string, and one in between each net. Pinger use in the 2010 HPTRP MAs and non-HPTRin these areas during the 2009-2010 fishing season. No pingers were required in the Mid-Atlantic so this region 

pinger use. 

Location Time Period

Total 

Observed 

No 

Pingers

Some 

Pingers

Unknown 

Pinger 

Use

Pingers 

Used but an 

Unknown 

Quantity

> 0% and < 90% 

Pinger Use

90% 

P

Co

1998 HPTRP MAs

Cape Cod South Dec 1 - May 31 61 9 (15%) 52 (85%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 

Massachusetts Bay Dec 1 ‐ May 31 68 36 (53%) 32 (47%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (3%) Mid-Coast Sep 15 ‐ May 31 236 15 (6%) 220 (93%) 1 (<1%) 6 (3%) 64 (27%) 

Offshore Dec 1 ‐ May 31 169 18 (11%) 151 (89%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 59 (35%) 

Subtotal (1998 HPTRP MAs) 534 78 (15%) 455 (85%) 1 (<1%) 6 (1%) 125 (23%) 

Additional 2010 HPTRP MAsMassachusetts Bay (Additional) Nov 1 ‐ May 31 6 2 (33%) 4 (67%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 

Southern New England Dec 1 ‐ May 31 208 170 (82%) 38 (18%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 5 (2%) 

Stellwagen Bank Nov 1 ‐ May 31 162 125 (77%) 37 (23%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 7 (4%) 

Subtotal (Additional 2010 HPTRP MAs) 376 297 (79%) 79 (21%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 12 (3%) 

Non-HPTRP AreasOther June 1 ‐ May 31 723 668 (92%) 54 (7%) 1 (< 1%) 0 (0%) 15 (2%) 

Hauls
14 

Table 5. Results of pinger testing by haul. Note: the Stellwagen Bank Management Area was not in effect at the tim

Management Area Trip Year Month

Number of

Pingers

Hauled

Number of

Pingers

Working

Pingers

Recorded

as Lost

Number of

Pingers

Required

Percentage of

Tested Pingers

That Were

Working

Pe

R

Pinge

Mid‐Coast 1 2009 Dec 6 6 5 12 100% Mid‐Coast 1 2009 Dec 3 3 0 4 100% Mid‐Coast 1 2009 Dec 9 9 0 10 100% Mid‐Coast 2 2009 Dec 6 6 4 12 100% 

Mid‐Coast 2 2009 Dec 1 1 0 7 100% Stellwagen Bank 3 2009 Dec 8 5 1 8 63% Stellwagen Bank 3 2009 Dec 9 4 0 9 44% Stellwagen Bank 3 2009 Dec 3 1 0 4 33% Mid‐Coast 4 2009 Dec 16 13 0 15 81% Mid‐Coast 4 2009 Dec 12 5 1 13 42% Mid‐Coast 4 2009 Dec 3 1 0 3 33% Mid‐Coast 4 2009 Dec 12 10 0 12 83% Massachusetts Bay 5 2010 Jan 7 7 2 11 100% 

Massachusetts Bay 5 2010 Jan 8 8 0 8 100% Massachusetts Bay 6 2010 Jan 10 10 0 11 100% Totals 113 89 13 139 79% 
15 

Table 6. The number of harbor porpoises bycaught during June 2009 – May 2010 by year, month, and Manageincluded are details of HPTRP compliance and pinger use on hauls with takes, including: whether a full comp

used (independent of pinger functionality), compliance with all HPTRP closed area and gear modification regufunctionality was not assessed), and what type of violation was documented, if any. 

* Non-compliant Mid-Coast hauls had pinger percentages of 75, 82, 55, 78, and 82 % (where 100% would be compliant). ** Twine size was unrecorded so it was not possible to determine compliance with twine size regulations. 

Year Month 1998 HPTRP Management Area

1998 and 2010 HPTRP Management Areas (and Management Measures)

Harbor Porpoises

Full Pinger Usage 

Compliance (noincluding functionality) w1998 HPTRP Regulations 

2009 Aug 1 No NA 2009 Sep Mid‐Coast Mid‐Coast (Pingers) 1 No Non‐Compliant 

2009 Oct Mid‐Coast Mid‐Coast (Pingers) 1 No Non‐Compliant 

2009 Nov Mid‐Coast Mid‐Coast (Pingers) 1 No Non‐Compliant 

2009 Nov Mid‐Coast Mid‐Coast (Pingers) 1 No Non‐Compliant 

2009 Nov Mid‐Coast Mid‐Coast (Pingers) 1 No Non‐Compliant 

2009 Nov 1 No NA 2009 Dec Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay (Pingers) 1 Yes Compliant 

2010 Jan Cape Cod South Cape Cod South (Pingers) 1 Yes Compliant 

2010 Jan Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 

2010 Jan Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 

2010 Jan Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 

2010 Feb Southern New England (Pingers) 1 Yes NA 

2010 Mar Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh Mudhole South (Closed) 1 No Non‐Compliant 

2010 Mar Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 

2010 Mar Southern New England (Pingers) 1 Yes NA 

2010 Mar Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 

2010 Mar Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh (Gear Modifications) 2 No Compliant 

2010 Mar Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh (Gear Modifications) 4 No Compliant 

2010 Mar Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh Waters off New Jersey Large Mesh (Gear Modifications) 1 No Compliant 

2010 Apr Mid‐Coast Mid‐Coast (Pingers) 1 Yes Compliant 2010 Apr Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 

2010 May Southern New England (Pingers) 2 No NA 

2010 May Southern New England (Pingers) 1 No NA 
16 

Table 7. Harbor porpoise bycatch rates (number of observed harbor porpoises per observed mtons of landings) in 

1998 and 2010 Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) Management Areas (MAs) and areas associated with 

2010 HPTRP Consequence Closure Areas (CCAs), and the compliance rates for the 1998 HPTRP MAs. Compliance 

as applied to this table is defined as the percent of observed hauls in compliance with all of the applicable 

regulations, except for pinger functionality in New England and net tagging in the Mid-Atlantic. 

Region New England Management Areas

Observed 

Number 

of Hauls

Observed 

Landings 

(mtons)

Observed 

Number of 

Bycaught 

Harbor 

Porpoises

1998 HPTRP 

Compliance 

Rate

(percent 

hauls)

Bycatch 

Rate

(harbor 

porpoises 

per mtons)

New England 1998 HPTRP MAs

Cape Cod South 61 30.871 1 85.3% 0.032

Massachusetts Bay 68 11.391 1 42.7% 0.088

Mid-Coast 236 65.823 6 46.6% 0.091

Offshore 169 63.717 0 21.3% 0.000

Subtotal (1998 HPTRP MAs) 534 171.802 8 42.5% 0.047

Additional 2010 HPTRP MAs

Southern New England (not including Cape Cod South) 208 129.985 11 NA 0.085

Stellwagen Bank 162 39.941 0 NA 0.000

Massachusetts Bay (Additional) 6 0.482 0 NA 0.000

Subtotal (Additional 2010 HPTRP MAs) 376 170.408 11 NA 0.065

New England Non-HPTRP Areas

Other 723 282.178 2 NA 0.007

Areas Associated with Consequence Closure Areas (CCAs)

Areas Associated with Gulf of Maine CCA (includes Massachusetts 

Bay, Stellwagen Bank, and Mid-Coast Management Areas) 472 117.637 7 NA 0.060

Areas Associated with the Eastern Cape Cod and Cape Cod South 

Expansion CCAs (includes Cape Cod South) 269 160.856 12 NA 0.075

Subtotal (Areas Associated with Consequence Closure Areas (CCAs)) 741 278.493 19 NA 0.068

Mid-Atlantic Management Areas

Mid‐Atlantic 1998 HPTRP MAs

Mudhole North 11 3.138 0 63.6% 0.000

Southern Mid‐Atlantic 109 30.851 0 52.3% 0.000

Waters off New Jersey (including 2010 Mudhole South, but not 1998 

Mudhole North)* 78 15.992 8 53.9% 0.500

Subtotal (1998 HPTRP MAs) 198 49.981 8 53.5% 0.160

Additional 2010 HPTRP Management Areas

Mudhole South (included in 1998 Waters off New Jersey) 29 4.668 1 NA 0.214

Mid-Atlantic Non-HPTRP Areas

Other 1694 249.459 0 NA 0.000

* Waters off New Jersey includes the one Mudhole South haul that was listed in its own row in Table 1.
17 

Table 8. Bycatch rates (number of observed harbor porpoises per observed mtons of landings) by 1998 and 201Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) times and areas and pinger usage. No pingers were required in the Mid-Awas not assessed for pinger use bycatch rates. 

Time Period 1998 and 2010HPTRP Management or Closure Areas

Full

Pinger

Use

Observed

Hauls

Obs

Lan

(m

1998 HPTRP Management Areas

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Cape Cod South No 9 

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Cape Cod South Yes 52 

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Mass. Bay (1998 HPTRP) No 39 

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Mass. Bay (1998 HPTRP) Yes 29 

Sep 15 ‐ May 31 Mid‐Coast No 127 

Sep 15 ‐ May 31 Mid‐Coast Yes 109 

Nov 1 ‐ May 31 Offshore No 133 

Nov 1 ‐ May 31 Offshore Yes 36 

Additional 2010 HPTRP Management Areas

Nov 1 ‐ May 31 Mass. Bay (Additional, not included in 1998HPTRP) No 2 

Nov 1 ‐ May 31 Mass. Bay (Additional, not included in 1998HPTRP) Yes 4 

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Southern New England (not including Cape Cod South) No 180 1

Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Southern New England (not including Cape Cod South) Yes 28 

Nov 1 ‐ May 31 Stellwagen Bank No 132 

Nov 1 ‐ May 31 Stellwagen Bank Yes 30 

Areas Associated with Consequence Closure Areas (CCAs)

Sept15/Nov 1/Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Areas Associated with the Gulf of Maine CCA No 300 

Sept15/Nov 1/Dec 1 ‐ May 31 Areas Associated with the Gulf of Maine CCA Yes 172 

Dec 1 ‐ May 31

Areas Associated with the Eastern Cape Cod and Cape Cod

South Expansion CCAs No 189 1

Dec 1 ‐ May 31

Areas Associated with the Eastern Cape Cod and Cape Cod

South Expansion CCAs Yes 80 

All MA Time Periods All New England Management Areas No 622 2

All MA Time Periods All New England Management Areas Yes 288 1
18 

Figure 1A. 1998 New England Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) Management Areas 

(MAs) and the management measures associated with them depicted prior to the 2010 HPTRP 

amendments, and two additional 2010 HPTRP MAs. Note that under the 2010 HPTRP amendments, 

part of the Massachusetts Bay MA is expanded slightly to the north, eliminating the small gap 

between it and the 2010 HPTRP Stellwagen Bank MA to the north. Under the 2010 HPTRP 

amendments, the time period for the Massachusetts Bay MA is lengthened to include November, 

which matches the time period for the adjacent 2010 HPTRP Stellwagen Bank MA (Nov 1 – May 

31). The time period for the 2010 HPTRP pinger requirement in the Southern New England MA is 

from Dec 1 through May 31. For more information on the 1998 and 2010 HPTRP regulations, see 

the NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Regional Office’s HPTRP website at: 

www.nero.noaa.gov/hptrp. 
19 

Figure 1B. 1998 Mid-Atlantic Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) Management Areas 

(MA) and a summary of the associated regulations, and the additional 2010 HPTRP Mudhole South 

MA. Under the 2010 HPTRP amendments, the Mudhole South MA is closed to gillnet gear from 

February 1 through March 15, and gear modification requirements are mandatory from January 1 

through April 30, except when the Waters off New Jersey MA closure applies for large mesh 

gillnets (April 1-20). The boundary shown between New England and the Mid-Atlantic components 

of the 2010 HPTRP is the boundary that intersects the south shore of Long Island. For more 

details on the 1998 HPTRP gear modification requirements, see Table 2. For more information on 

both the 1998 and 2010 HPTRP regulations, see the NOAA Fisheries Service Northeast Regional 

Office’s HPTRP website at: www.nero.noaa.gov/hptrp
20 

Figure 1C. 2010 Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (HPTRP) seasonal Consequence Closure 

Areas (CCA). For more information on these regulations, see the NOAA Fisheries Service 

Northeast Regional Office’s HPTRP website at: www.nero.noaa.gov/hptrp 
21 

Figure 2. Location of Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) observed gillnet hauls 

without harbor porpoise takes (blue triangles) and observed hauls with harbor porpoise bycatch 

(yellow circles) from June 2009 through May 2010. These are overlaid on top of the 1998 and 2010 

HPTRP Management Areas (MAs) as shown in Figures 1a and 1b. The hatched areas depict 

Consequence Closure Areas (CCAs) as shown in Figure 1c. 
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