Fur Seal Research and Management Needs 



As noted above and in the previous Annual Report, the 

 Commission wrote to the National Marine Fisheries Service on 

 29 November 1985 recommending a number of actions which it 

 believed necessary to effectively identify and mitigate the 

 cause or causes of the continuing decline of the Pribilof 

 Islands fur seal population. Among other things, that letter 

 recommended that the Service promptly convene a North Pacific 

 fur seal research program review to ensure that the coming 

 year's research was well-conceived and addressed the most 

 important research questions. 



The Service's 21 February 1986 response to the Commis- 

 sion's recommendations stated, among other things, that a 

 research program review was not needed in 1986 because new 

 research on entanglement and food habits was planned and that 

 it would be more appropriate to schedule another research 

 program review in February 1987 when that research had been 

 completed and the results analyzed. The Service's letter was 

 not fully responsive to the Commission's recommendations and 

 a follow-up letter was sent to the Service on 12 March 1986. 



With respect to the recommended research program review, 

 the Commission noted that its recommendation had been 

 intended to ensure that all research necessary to identify 

 and determine how to resolve the cause or causes of the fur 

 seal population decline had been identified and to ensure 

 that appropriate priorities and funding levels had been 

 established for those studies. Because the Service had not 

 advised the Commission of what research it considered 

 necessary, what priorities it had assigned to those studies, 

 or what studies would be supported in Fiscal Year 1986, the 

 Commission asked to be advised as to: (a) what research the 

 Service considered necessary to identify and mitigate the 

 cause of the continuing population decline; (b) the level of 

 funding available for fur seal research in 1986; (c) what 

 research would be carried out with those funds; and (d) what 

 necessary research would not be supported due to insufficient 

 funding. 



Some of the requested information was presented during 

 the course of the aforementioned preparatory meeting convened 

 by the Service on 19 March 1986 in Seattle, Washington. The 

 research program review recommended by the Commission was not 

 convened by the Service in 1986. 



In May 1986, the Service requested comments and recom- 

 mendations from the Commission on two applications for 

 permits to take fur seals for purposes of scientific 

 research. The permit applications were for research being 

 conducted by the Service as part of its North Pacific fur 



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