Fisheries Service had not responded to the Humane Society's 

 complaint. 



Early in 1988, the Commission will review the questions 

 raised by the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center and provide 

 comments and recommendations as appropriate to the Assistant 

 Administrator for Fisheries. 



Development and Implementation of a Lonq-Rancre Conservation 

 Plan 



The cause or causes of the fur seal population decline 

 since the mid-1970s has not been determined. Mortality due 

 to entanqlement in lost and discarded fishinq qear is no doubt 

 a contributinq factor and may be the primary cause of the 

 decline (see Chapter VI for a thorouqh discussion of issues 

 reqardinq entanqlement) . Other possibilities include: inci- 

 dental take durinq fishinq operations; over-fishinq of pollock 

 or other species important in the fur seals' diet; past and 

 onqoinq fur seal harvest practices; disease; environmental 

 pollution in one or more parts of the fur seals' ranqe; preda- 

 tion; and natural variation or lonq-term chanqes in the marine 

 ecosystem of which fur seals are a part. 



Because of the continuinq fur seal population decline 

 and uncertainties concerninq the cause or causes of that 

 decline, the Commission recommended in November 1985 that the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service: promptly convene a North 

 Pacific Fur Seal Research Proqram review and schedule subsequent 

 reviews annually until such time as the population decline 

 has been reversed; constitute a qroup of experts to write and 

 help implement a fur seal conservation plan similar in scope 

 and format to an endanqered species recovery plan; and seek 

 the cooperation of other countries in efforts to implement 

 the conservation plan. In December 1985, the Commission 

 provided the Service a draft outline of a conservation plan 

 for the Pribilof Islands fur seal population. 



In its 21 February 1986 response to the Commission's 

 recommendations, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 questioned the need to convene a fur seal research proqram 

 review before February 1987 and noted that the need for a 

 lonq-term research plan would be addressed at a meetinq of 

 the former parties to the Interim Fur Seal Convention, proposed 

 to be held in Ottawa, Canada, in April 1986. The Service 

 indicated that the draft outline of the Pribilof Islands Fur 

 Seal Conservation Plan provided by the Commission would be 

 used to form the basis of the U.S. contribution to plan develop- 

 ment. The meetinq in Ottawa was cancelled, but subsequently 

 was rescheduled and held in Washinqton, D.C. in September 

 1987 (see discussion below) . 



28 



