Under section 118 of the MMPA, NMFS must publish, at least annually, a List of Fisheries that places all U.S. commercial fisheries into one of three categories based on the level of incidental serious injury and mortality of marine mammals that occurs in each fishery. The categorization of a fishery in the List of Fisheries determines whether participants in that fishery may be required to comply with certain provisions of the MMPA, such as registration, observer coverage, and take reduction plan requirements.

The 2003 List of Fisheries published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, July 15, 2003. The list reclassifies the following fisheries: the Mid-Atlantic gillnet coastal fishery moves from Category II to Category I; the Gulf of Mexico gillnet fishery moves from Category III to Category II; the Cook Inlet salmon set gillnet fishery moves from Category II to Category III; and the CA/OR thresher shark/swordfish drift gillnet fishery moves from Category I to Category II. The CA yellowtail, barracuda, white seabass, and tuna drift gillnet fishery is added to the list for the first time and is classified as Category II. The Atlantic mixed species trap/pot fishery is added to the list as a Category II fishery; it combines the formerly listed Mid-Atlantic mixed species trap/pot fishery, the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. Atlantic black seabass trap/pot fishery, the Northeast trap/pot fishery, and any other trap/pot gear in the Atlantic not already included in the list. The 2003 list contains other changes, such as updates to the number of participants in some fisheries and additions to the list of marine mammal species incidentally killed or injured in a particular fishery.

For more information on the 2003 list, please contact Tanya Dobrzynski at tanya.dobrzynski@noaa.gov or consult NOAA Fisheries' Marine Mammal Division Web site.