swordfish longline fishery that has expanded from about 15 to 150 vessels. In 1991, the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Western Pacific 

 Regional Fishery Management Council, the United States Coast Guard, and the 

 Commission cooperated in efforts to prevent these harmful interactions. The National 

 Marine Fisheries Service also continued to rebuild some seal colonies through headstart 

 and pup rehabilitation programs and to address problems caused by groups of aggressive 

 male seals killing adult females and young seals of both sexes. Substantial progress was 

 made with respect to starting restoration efforts at Tern Island, and planning began in 

 earnest for the repair of the disintegrating seawall, something critical to both the welfare 

 of the seals and the integrity of the Island. Particularly noteworthy were the progress 

 made by the National Marine Fisheries Service's program staff over the past two years 

 and the substantially improved levels of cooperation amongst all agencies involved in 

 monk seal recovery efforts. In addition to the groups already mentioned, the Hawaiian 

 Monk Seal Recovery Team, the Corps of Engineers, the Navy, and the Hawaii 

 Department of Land and Natural Resources were important contributors. 



Because of alarming declines in the number of Steller sea lions throughout their 

 range, particularly in Alaska, the species was listed as threatened under the Endangered 

 Species Act in 1990. In 1991, the Steller Sea Lion Recovery Team constituted by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service completed and provided a recovery plan to the Service 

 for adoption. At the same time, the Marine Mammal Commission began work to update 

 its 1988 Steller sea lion species account with research and management 

 recommendations. Among the things affecting Steller sea lions were the commercial 

 fisheries for pollock and other groundfish. In these fisheries, sea lions have been caught 

 in nets or shot by fishermen to protect gear and catch, and the fisheries themselves may 

 have depleted sea lion food supplies. In this regard, the Service promulgated emergency 

 rules to close areas within 10 miles of major rookeries to groundfish fishing and adjusted 

 proposed catch limits for pollock downward. Recommendations also were made by the 

 Recovery Team to designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. 



The remnant population of sea otters along the central California coast numbers 

 about 1,900 animals and remains at risk. A decline in numbers in the 1980s due to 

 incidental take in gillnets has been stopped by State actions to prohibit the use of gillnets 

 in sea otter habitat and otter numbers again appear to be increasing. The major threat 

 to the population has been and continues to be the possibility of a large oil spill. To 

 address this threat, the Fish and Wildlife Service began efforts in 1987 to establish a 

 separate reserve colony of otters at San Nicolas Island, an island some distance from the 

 mainland colony. To date, however, only a few animals have remained at the Island and 

 efforts to translocate additional animals have ended. In addition, the Exxon Valdez oil 

 spill indicates that one massive spill could affect both the mainland and San Nicolas 



VI 



