DOCUMENTING THE BYCATCH OF HARBOR PORPOISES, PHOCOENA-PHOCOENA, IN COASTAL GILLNET FISHERIES FROM STRANDED CARCASSES

We examined 107 harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) carcasses recovere d from beaches in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina between 1994 and 1996 for evidence of entanglement in fishing gear. Stranded porpoi ses ranged in length from 102 to 128 cm, indicating that only juvenile porpoises are present in the nearshore waters of the Mid-Atlantic dur ing winter. Of the 40 porpoises for which we could establish cause of death, 25 displayed definitive evidence of entanglement in fishing gea r. Evidence of entanglement consisted primarily of line marks from net s; in four cases we were able to determine specifically that porpoises had become entangled in monofilament nets. These mortalities demonstr ate the need for a directed observer program for coastal gillnet fishe ries in the Mid-Atlantic.