MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



With respect to marine mammals under jurisdiction 

 of the Fish and Wildlife Service (i.e., walruses, polar 

 bears, and sea otters). Service representatives noted 

 that management plan advisory teams had been 

 established for each species. The teams' purpose is to 

 assist the Service with planning and oversight of 

 priority tasks . Because of other pressing management 

 needs, however, the Service had been unable to 

 devote the staff or funds needed to complete draft 

 plans for any of the species. 



At its annual meeting, the Commission, therefore, 

 offered to help overcome these problems by arranging 

 for and paying for efforts to develop initial draft 

 conservation plans for walruses, polar bears, and sea 

 otters. The draft plans could then be used by the 

 Service and its management plan advisory teams as a 

 starting point to develop the needed plans. Based on 

 the favorable response at the meeting, the Conmiission 

 wrote to the Service on 29 April 1991 confirming its 

 offer to help develop initial draft plans. 



By letter of 30 August 1991, the Service reaf- 

 firmed its desire to complete conservation plans for 

 walruses, polar bears, and sea otters by the end of 

 1992. In this regard, the Service stated it would use 

 the species reports completed by the Commission in 

 1988 as well as any draft plans that the Commission 

 would be able to provide. During 1991, the Commis- 

 sion completed a draft plan for Pacific walruses and 

 transmitted it to the Service. Draft plans for polar 

 bears and Alaska sea otters also were substantially 

 completed in 1991, and the Commission expects to 

 transmit them to the Service early in 1992. A de- 

 scription of these efforts is included in Chapter H. 



With regard to conservation plans for other Alaska 

 marine mammals, a Recovery Team appointed by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service completed a draft 

 recovery plan for Steller sea lions and circulated it for 

 public review during 1991. As noted in Chapter n, 

 the Commission provided comments to the Service. 

 The final plan is expected to be approved by the 

 Director of the Service early in 1992. As a related 

 matter, the Commission contracted for a study to 

 update the Steller sea lion species report that it had 

 published in 1988 (see Chapter EX). The updated 

 report will compile and synthesize the large amount of 



recent data on Steller sea lions and thereby improve 

 the basis for evaluating and implementing priority 

 tasks identified in the recovery plan being developed 

 by the Service. 



Regarding North Pacific fiir seals, the Service, as 

 in previous years, made no substantive progress on 

 developing a draft plan (see also Chapter E). 



In addition to work on the above species, the 

 Commission took steps to update the harbor seal 

 species report and develop a species report on killer 

 whales in Alaska (see Chapters n and IX). Recent 

 information documents substantial declines in harbor 

 seal numbers in parts of Alaska for reasons that are 

 not fiiUy known. In addition, conservation issues 

 have arisen in recent years regarding Alaska killer 

 whales. Among other things, there is evidence of 

 fisheries interactions that have been detrimental to 

 both fishermen and whales, and of possible adverse 

 effects from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (see below). 



The species reports will provide a summary and 

 analysis of recent data on both species and will 

 include research and management recommendations. 

 They will be used by the Commission and others to 

 determine further actions that may be needed to 

 protect harbor seal and killer whale populations in 

 Alaska. The final reports are expected to be complet- 

 ed by the spring of 1992 and, along with the Steller 

 sea lion report, will update the series of Alaska 

 species reports published by the Commission in 1988. 



The Bering Sea and 

 Gulf of Alaska Ecosystems 



In addition to substantial declines in the number of 

 harbor seals {Phoca vitulina). North Pacific fur seals 

 (Callorhinus ursinus), and Steller sea lions (Eumeto- 

 pias jubatus) discussed elsewhere in this Report, 

 substantial declines also have been observed in four 

 species of fish-eating birds in the North Pacific: two 

 species of kittiwake, black-legged (Rissa tridactyla) 

 and red-legged {R. brevirostris), and two species of 

 murre, common (Uria aalge) and thick-billed ([/. 

 lomvia). Populations of other species, including 

 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and other 



156 



