107 



Figure 23-6— Hawaiian monk 

 seal live births, 1983-90. 



ISSUES 



Important management issues are: 1) 

 Have fisheries interactions and other 

 human-related activities directly harmed 

 marine mammals or significantly altered 

 the carrying capacity of the marine ecosys- 

 tem for them; 2) are the depleted marine 

 mammals recovering, and have the best 



steps been taken to speed their recovery; 

 and 3) what actions are necessary to min- 

 imize potential conflicts between the ESA, 

 MMPA, MFCMA, and other Federal laws on 

 marine resources and fisheries manage- 

 ment? 



Fisheries Interactions 



One issue involves competition for food. 

 U.S. and foreign commercial fisheries have 

 been operating in the eastern North Pacific 

 for more than 100 years and fish catches 

 have been sustained there for many de- 

 cades. Some fish populations, however, 

 have collapsed and are no longer commer- 

 cially viable. The impact of removing mil- 

 lions of fish and shellfish from the marine 

 ecosystem each year on the marine mam- 

 mals that also eat them is, however, un- 

 known. 



Accidental killing of marine mammals is 

 another concern. Except for the northern 

 spotted dolphin, the dolphin kill in the 

 eastern tropical Pacific tuna fishery has 

 declined drastically since the 1960's. Mon- 

 itoring must continue, to see if the dolphin 

 populations increase. The current acciden- 

 tal annual kill of northern spotted dolphin 

 (36%) will have to decrease for the popula- 

 tion to rebound. 



The harbor porpoise kill in California's 



fisheries declined from 200-300/year in the 

 mid-1980's to less than 100/year after 

 gillnet fishing ceased. The harbor porpoise 

 kill by the Makah Indian tribal setnet 

 salmon fishery off the north coast of Wash- 

 ington declined from over 100 in 1987-88 

 to 13 in 1990 when fishing effort was re- 

 duced. 



The known kill of Steller sea lions in 

 Alaska fisheries has declined from over 

 1,400 in 1982 to 23 in 1990. The numbers 

 killed in other fisheries is believed to be 

 even smaller. Harbor seals are killed in low 

 numbers, but data are incomplete. 



Observed marine mammal kills in the 

 foreign high-seas squid fishery in 1989 

 numbered 455 northern right whale dol- 

 phins, 254 white-sided dolphins, 208 fur 

 seals, 141 Dall porpoises, 10 common dol- 

 phins, and 52 unidentified dolphins (only 

 4% of the fishery was monitored). One fur 

 seal was reported killed in U.S. fisheries in 

 1990. 



