wildlife Service shares responsibility for protecting the 

 Hawaiian monk seal and its habitat. 



The Commission's efforts during the past several years 

 to promote the protection and recovery of the monk seal have 

 been described in past Annual Reports. Congressional concern 

 for survival of the species has been evident from the special 

 funding and attention it has directed to monk seal issues 

 since Fiscal Year 1981. For that Fiscal Year, the Commission 

 received a special $100,000 appropriation to aid in 

 developing and implementing an effective research and 

 management plan for the Hawaiian monk seal. In FY 1982, 

 Congress directed the National Marine Fisheries Service to 

 invest $400,000 in monk seal work and, in the following year, 

 the Service was directed to budget $150,000 for that purpose. 

 Congress also provided the Commission $150,000 for monk seal 

 efforts ill FY 1983, and, after developing a program plan for 

 accomplishing priority research and management tasks, the 

 Commission transferred the entire $150,000 to the Service to 

 carry it out. In FY 1984 and FY 1985, Congress increased the 

 Service's appropriation for monk seal work to $300,000 and 

 $350,000, respectively, and, in FY 1986, funding for the 

 Hawaiian monk seal program was $325,000. 



Increased funding in the past several years and the 

 sustained efforts of dedicated personnel at the Service's 

 Honolulu Laboratory have enabled the Service to start a 

 constructive research and management program to enhance 

 recovery of the Hawaiian monk seal. Among other things, the 

 program includes: the capture and temporary captive main- 

 tenance of female pups to improve their chances of survival 

 and thereby promote the recovery of the population on Kure 

 Atoll; the recovery of emaciated pups from French Frigate 

 Shoals and their movement to the temporary captive main- 

 tenance facility on Kure Atoll for subsequent release at that 

 location; removal of some male seals from Laysan Island to 

 other locations to reduce mortality and injury of female monk 

 seals apparently being caused by a disproportionately large 

 number of male seals at that Island; removal of lost and 

 discarded fishing gear and other marine debris potentially 

 hazardous to monk seals from preferred haul-out beaches aii'i 

 adjacent waters; censusing seals at the major breeding 

 islands to estimate the size and composition of island 

 populations as well as trends; and tagging pups to determine 

 pup production, survival, distribution, and movement 

 patterns. 



As described in previous Annual Reports, in 1980, the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service issued a Draft Environ- 

 mental Impact Statement proposing that certain waters and 

 beaches in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands be designated as 

 critical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal pursuant to the 



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