have secondary, "trophic" effects on Steller sea lions and 

 other marine mammals that eat groundfish. It concluded that 

 an increase in catch of groundfish species other than pollock 

 would not affect marine mammal populations and that, since 

 the proposal was not expected to result in a substantial 

 increase in pollock catch, the impact on Steller sea lions 

 and other marine mammals would not differ substantially from 

 the status quo. 



In its 21 July 1988 comments on the Draft Statement, the 

 Commission noted that the conclusions concerning the possible 

 impacts of the proposed action on sea lions and other marine 

 mammals were based largely on unverified assumptions concerning 

 the feeding habits of marine mammals. It pointed out that 

 past and ongoing exploitation of pollock and other groundfish 

 may have caused or contributed to the present decline of 

 Steller sea lions and other species in the North Pacific. 

 The Commission recommended that the optimum yield level not 

 be increased unless and until there is adequate information 

 to reasonably conclude that the groundfish fishery is not 

 causing or contributing to the decline of sea lions and other 

 marine mammals in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands area 

 or, alternatively, an effective system, including placement 

 of observers on both foreign and domestic catcher and processing 

 vessels, is in place to: (a) verify assumptions concerning 

 the impact of the fishery on marine mammal food supplies; and 

 (b) insure that all direct and indirect effects of groundfish 

 fishing on marine mammals will be detected in time for 

 corrective action to be taken. 



Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) 



Humpback whales, which are found in most of the world's 

 oceans, have been severely reduced in number as a result of 

 commercial whaling. Commercial exploitation of the species 

 has been banned by the International Whaling Commission since 

 1966. In 1970, the species was designated as endangered 

 under the U.S. Endangered Species Preservation Act, which was 

 replaced by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. However, as 

 noted in Chapter V of this Report, a small number of humpback 

 whales are still taken in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In 

 this and other areas, the species' recovery is threatened by 

 human activities such as commercial vessel traffic, recreational 

 boating, offshore oil and gas development, commercial fisheries, 

 and coastal development. 



Efforts To Develop a Recovery Plan 



The Commission believes that recovery plans, as required 

 under the Endangered Species Act, are essential to identify 

 and to encourage responsible agencies to take actions necessary 



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