MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Coast Guard 

 responded positively and so advised the Commission 

 by letter of 21 March 1991. 



To help address long-term enforcement needs, the 

 Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management 

 Council contracted for a study to test various types of 

 real-time vessel tracking systems. The study was 

 carried out in the spring and sunmier of 1991 and a 

 copy of the study report was sent to the Commission 

 by the Council. The report indicated that available 

 technology was reliable, could assure confidentiality 

 of location data, and was not cost-prohibitive. On 20 

 November 1991, the Commission wrote to the Service 

 commending the Council's efforts and recommending 

 that the Service immediately review the report with a 

 view towards developing a strategy that would require 

 vessel tracking devices aboard longline vessels at the 

 earliest possible date. 



As of the end of 1991, no injured seals other than 

 those reported early in the year had been documented 

 by fishery observers or researchers on island beaches. 

 However, the Service rejected the Commission's 

 recommendation to place observers aboard longline 

 vessels fishing between 50 and 100 nautical miles 

 from shore. In doing so, the Service stated that, 

 because nearly all monk seals occur only in the 50- 

 nautical-mile Protected Species Zone, it assumed that 

 all seal injuries occurred within this zone, and it 

 believed that the expense of placing observers aboard 

 longline vessels was not justified. 



The Conunission is aware of no reliable informa- 

 tion on at-sea movement patterns of seals during their 

 absence from island beaches or on the geographic 

 range of fishery interactions. In rejecting the Com- 

 mission's recommendation for longline observers 

 between 50 and 100 nautical miles, the Service 

 provided no data on at-sea movements to support its 

 statements. Thus, the Commission remains concerned 

 that seals may be injured by longline fishing beyond 

 50 nautical miles from shore and may die before they 

 can reach shore. At the end of 1991, it was the 

 Commission's understanding that the Service planned 

 to support the study recommended by the Commission 

 to begin tagging seals and ttacking their movements at 



sea in 1992. The study should provide at least some 

 data to address this critical concern. 



Interactions with the Lobster Fishery — Deple- 

 tion of lobster and other prey species by commercial 

 fishermen in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands also 

 may adversely affect monk seals and impede their 

 recovery. Among other things, decreased prey 

 availability could depress birth rates and increase 

 mortality, particularly among pups, as has been 

 observed in recent years. Lobsters are suspected to 

 be important prey of Hawaiian monk seals. During 

 1990 and early 1991, lobster stocks were reduced by 

 commercial fishermen and/or possible environmental 

 changes to levels approaching, and perhaps lower 

 than, 20 percent of the pre-exploitation level. 



The fishery management plan adopted by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service for lobster in the 

 western Pacific defines "overfishing" of lobster stocks 

 in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as fishing which 

 reduces the stock to a level equal to or less than 20 

 percent of the spawning stock biomass that existed 

 before exploitation, which began in 1978. In re- 

 sponse, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Manage- 

 ment Council requested, and the Service adopted, an 

 emergency rule closing the lobster fishery in the 

 Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as of 8 May 1991. 



In addition, the Council began developing a recom- 

 mended amendment to the crustacean fishery manage- 

 ment plan for the western Pacific. Its proposed 

 amendment called for a limited-entry system that 

 would freeze the size of the lobster fleet at approxi- 

 mately current levels, an annual six-month closed 

 season prior to and during part of the spawning 

 season, and a system for setting annual harvest 

 quotas. By letter of 7 November 1991, the Service 

 asked the Commission for comments on the Council's 

 proposed amendment. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Commit- 

 tee of Scientific Advisors, replied on 6 December 

 1991, supporting all measures proposed by the Coun- 

 cil. The Commission noted, however, that recent 

 declines and the ultimate recovery of Hawaiian monk 

 seals may be related to the recent declines and recov- 

 ery of lobster stocks in the Northwestern Hawaiian 



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