Chapter 11 — Species of Spiecial Concern 



Hawaiian Monk Seal Program Review 



As described in previous Annual Reports, in the 

 late 1980s, support and direction of the Hawaiian 

 monk seal recovery activities did not appear to be 

 commensurate with the species' critical status. To help 

 address problems facing the species, the Commission 

 recommended to the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service that the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Team, 

 which had not met since 1984, be reconvened. The 

 Service agreed and scheduled a meeting for 12-14 

 December 1989. To ensure that the Service and the 

 Team had a careful review of the critical issues, the 

 Commission, in cooperation with the Service, also 

 convened a 4-5 December 1989 review of the Hawai- 

 ian monk seal recovery program. The Commission 

 provided results from the review, including recom- 

 mendations, to the Service and the Recovery Team by 

 letter of 11 December. As noted in the 1990 Annual 

 Report, most of those recommendations were adopted. 



As indicated above, many critical recovery issues 

 remain. To provide further assistance in identifying 

 priority needs, the Commission, again in cooperation 

 with the National Marine Fisheries Service, scheduled 

 another program review for 5-6 November 1991 at the 

 Service's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La 

 Jolla, California. The review was again scheduled so 

 that the results could be provided to the Recovery 

 Team in time for its meeting later in the winter. To 

 make the review as productive and as valuable as 

 possible, the Commission invited representatives of 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Navy, the Corps of 

 Engineers, and the Coast Guard. 



The review confirmed that much progress had been 

 made since the 1989 program review. For example, 

 the Recovery Team had resumed a regular meeting 

 schedule, the budget for monk seal recovery activities 

 had been increased, and the overview of monk seals 

 in captivity had been greatly strengthened. Partici- 

 pants noted, however, that most funding and staff 

 effort was still being devoted to population monitoring 

 and data analyses that do little in and of themselves to 

 actually restore the species. Participants felt strongly 

 that the information base had evolved to a point where 

 greater emphasis could and should be placed on work 

 directly related to specific restoration tasks. 



On 20 December 1991, the Commission, in consul- 

 tation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, 

 provided its conclusions and recommendations to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service and the Recovery 

 Team. Regarding interactions with commercial fisher- 

 ies, the Commission recommended that: (1) a pilot 

 program to track monk seals using satellite-linked tags 

 be designed and organized in time for use in the 1992 

 field season to assess at-sea foraging and habitat use 

 patterns; (2) fishery observer programs be reviewed to 

 ensure that they provide useful and reliable data on 

 interactions between monk seals and fishing opera- 

 tions, including those for vessels operating between 50 

 and 100 nautical miles of the Northwestern Hawaiian 

 Islands; (3) information on monk seal prey species, 

 particularly those taken by commercial fisheries, be 

 compiled and used to design studies to monitor prey 

 abundance; (4) a pending proposal be adopted to limit 

 new entrants to the Northwestern Hawaiian Island 

 lobster fishery and develop aimual harvest quotas; and 

 (5) the Service evaluate whether its definition of 

 overfishing for lobsters, which allows lobster stocks 

 off the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to decline to a 

 level 80 percent below historic levels, provides 

 adequate protection for monk seals, given predator- 

 prey relationships between the two species. 



With respect to the male mobbing problem, the 

 Commission recommended that the Service provide 

 the Recovery Team and the Commission with key 

 background information on the mobbing issue so that 

 the best possible advice on how to proceed in the 

 coming field season could be developed during and 

 after the January 1992 Recovery Team meeting. 

 Among other points, the background materials should 

 cover information on the nature and frequency of 

 mobbing events, alternative and recommended courses 

 of action, possible beneficial and detrimental effects of 

 each alternative, and the results of studies to date to 

 identify animals that would and would not be treated. 

 Also, if the Service's preferred approach continues to 

 be experimental use of the testosterone suppressant 

 drug, the Commission recommended that the back- 

 ground material include an experimental design with 

 decision criteria for evaluating study results. 



In other areas, the Commission also recommended 

 that: (1) population monitoring studies be continued 



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