MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



179* 



175* 



170* 



165* 



160* 



15i* 



29° 



25* 



French Frigate Shoals 



Necker I. 



Nihoa 



Kauai 



Nithau 



Oahu 



'Ht; Molokal 



Lanai 



Z^^'Jii. Maui 



^ Hawaii 



-1 18° 



Figure 1. The Hawaiian Archipelago 



During 1991, particular emphasis was placed on 

 addressing interactions with commercial fishing, 

 protecting and rehabilitating pups for release back into 

 the wild, cleaning up hazardous debris, correcting 

 structural and contamination problems at Tern Island 

 in French Frigate Shoals, reducing the death and 

 injury of adult female and immature seals due to 

 "mobbing," and monitoring the five major breeding 

 populations. 



Interactions with Commercial Fisheries 



Hawaiian monk seals interact with at least four 

 commercial fisheries operating around the Northwest- 

 em Hawaiian Islands — the pelagic longline fishery 

 for swordfish, other billfish, and tuna; the hook and 

 line bottomfish fishery for snapper and grouper; the 

 lobster fishery; and the high seas squid driftnet 

 fishery. Interactions may be direct (e.g., entrapment 

 in gear or clubbing and shooting by fishermen seeking 

 to protect gear or catch) or indirect {e.g., depletion of 

 seal prey species). 



Interactions with Longline and Bottomflsh 

 Fisheries — In 1990, there were several reports of 

 seals, as well as albatrosses, being killed or injured as 

 a result of interactions with longline and bottomfish 

 fisheries. As discussed in its previous Annual Report, 

 the Commission provided recommendations to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service on steps to investi- 

 gate and respond to the reports. Among other things, 

 the Service interviewed fishermen returning from the 

 Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, advised fishermen of 

 concerns about potential interactions and legal require- 

 ments, and placed observers aboard some longline and 

 bottomfish vessels fishing in the Northwestern Hawai- 

 ian Islands. 



Although no injuries to seals were reported by 

 observers placed aboard fishing vessels as of early 

 1991, Fish and Wildlife Service personnel stationed 

 on Tern Island began finding injured seals and alba- 

 trosses. By April 1991, seven seals had been seen on 

 the beaches at French Frigate Shoals or swimming in 

 open water with embedded hooks, cut lips, or head 



16 



