The goal of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act is to reduce incidental mortality and serious injury of marine mammals in commercial fisheries to “insignificant levels approaching zero.”  NOAA’s Fisheries Service (NMFS), part of the Department of Commerce, convenes Take Reduction Teams (TRTs) for marine mammal stocks subjected to incidental “takes” in fisheries. TRTs are composed of experts and stakeholders—representatives from the fishing industry, environmental organizations, government agencies, and the scientific community—who work collaboratively to develop strategies for reducing bycatch of marine mammals.  Damon Gannon and Randall Wells served during 2007 as scientific representatives to three TRTs.  Wells served on the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team, while Gannon is on the Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Team and the Atlantic Trawl Gear Take Reduction Team.  The Pelagic Longline and Trawl Gear teams have both been convened to develop plans for reducing the unintended catch of pilot whales.  NMFS published the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan in 2006.  The Pelagic Longline TRT released a Draft Take Reduction Plan in May 2006, which should be released in final form by the end of 2007.  The Longline Take Reduction Plan focuses on modifying fishing practices, improving handling and release procedures when marine mammals become entangled in fishing gear, and increasing research efforts to get a better understanding of the scope and nature of the bycatch problem in that fishery.   The Atlantic Trawl Gear TRT has met twice and is still working on developing a consensus Take Reduction Plan, a draft of which will be released for public comment.  Once the Take Reduction Plans go into effect, the TRTs meet periodically to assess whether the plan is working satisfactorily and to make any changes that may become necessary as situations such as fisheries change or new information becomes available.