§ 217.95 — Requirements for monitoring and reporting.

§ 217.95 Requirements for monitoring and reporting.

(a) Staff training. TPWD staff must attend a safe handling, release, and identification workshop. TPWD shall ensure that at least one staff member on every gillnet sampling trip has had the training. TPWD shall hold staff meetings prior to the start of each gillnet season which will include: special instructions for handling bottlenose dolphins, scanning for the presence of dolphins prior to gillnet sets, scanning nets for entanglements, and what to do if there is an entanglement.

(b) Visual monitoring. TPWD staff must slow the vessel between 600 to 1000 feet (ft) (183 to 305 meters (m)) from the shoreline when approaching a sampling site. All staff members would scan the surface of the water for 15 minutes to watch and listen for surface activity prior to setting the nets. If a bottlenose dolphin is observed during the 15-minute observation period at the site, the net shall not be deployed. If bottlenose dolphins are observed, the net may only be deployed if the bottlenose dolphins are observed on a path away from the site consistently for 15 minutes or are not re-sighted within 15 minutes.

(c) Reporting of injured or dead marine mammals. (1) In the event that the activity defined in § 217.90(a) causes the take of a marine mammal in a prohibited manner, TPWD shall not set any more nets until such time as an appropriate decision regarding the activity continuation can be made by NMFS Office of Protected Resources (OPR). OPR will review the circumstances of the prohibited take and determine what measures are necessary to minimize the likelihood of further prohibited take. The report must include the information included in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, details of research survey, monitoring conducted prior to interaction, full descriptions of any observations of the animals, the context (vessel and conditions), decisions made, and rationale for decisions made in vessel and gear handling.

(2) TPWD shall report all marine mammals encounters observed during fishery research surveys that are not attributed to the specified activity to the Southeast Regional Stranding Coordinator within 24 hours. The following information shall be provided:

(i) Time, date, and location (latitude/longitude) of the incident;

(ii) Description of the incident including, but not limited to, monitoring prior to and occurring at time of incident;

(iii) Environmental conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction, Beaufort sea state, cloud cover, visibility);

(iv) Description of the animal(s) involved (e.g., size, age class);

(v) Water depth and net location where entangled;

(vi) Nature of the entanglement (i.e., part(s) of the animal(s) entangled, where in the net it was entangled);

(vii) Fate of the animal(s);

(viii) Detailed description of events, including how the animal(s) was disentangled and behavior upon release, including signs of injury (if alive); and

(ix) Photographs or video footage of the animal(s).

(d) Annual reporting. (1) TPWD shall submit an annual summary report to OPR not later than 90 days following the end of the fall sampling season. TPWD shall provide a final report within 30 days following resolution of comments on the draft report.

(2) These reports shall contain, at minimum, the following:

(i) Locations and time/date of all net sets;

(ii) All instances of marine mammal observations and descriptions of any mitigation procedures implemented or not implemented and why;

(iii) All incidents of marine mammal interactions, including all information required in paragraph (b) of this section;

(iv) A written evaluation of the effectiveness of TPWD mitigation strategies in reducing the number of marine mammal interactions with survey gear, including gear modifications and best professional judgment and suggestions for changes to the mitigation strategies, if any; and

(v) A summary of all relevant marine mammal training and any coordination with OPR.