Chapter III — Species of Special Concern 



Harbor Seal Status Review 



In 1988 the Commission published a series of 

 species accounts for selected marine mammal species 

 in Alaska, including harbor seals (see Appendix B, 

 Lentfer 1988). In light of the sharp decline in harbor 

 seal abundance in parts of Alaska, the Commission 

 contracted for an update of the harbor seal species 

 account, which was completed and published in 1994 

 (see Appendix B, Hoover-Miller 1994). 



In addition, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 initiated steps in 1992 to develop a harbor seal conser- 

 vation plan under provisions of the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act. Work on the plan, however, was 

 suspended in 1994 when efforts were redirected 

 toward conducting a status review to determine 

 whether harbor seals in Alaska should be designated 

 as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 

 The Service announced its intent to conduct the status 

 review in the Federal Register on 11 April 1994. 



In response to the notice the Commission provided 

 the Service with a copy of the final harbor seal 

 species account on 10 May 1994. On 10 June 1994 

 it also commented to the Service on factors that 

 should be considered in determining whether harbor 

 seals in Alaska should be designated as depleted. 

 Among other things, it noted that harbor seal numbers 

 had clearly declined in some areas of Alaska but have 

 been stable or increasing in other areas. Given the 

 limited understanding of harbor seal population 

 structure throughout Alaska, the Commission recom- 

 mended that the Service work with Alaska Native 

 hunters and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

 to gather harbor seal tissue samples from different 

 parts of the State for analyses of possible genetic 

 differences. Also, given the substantial decline in 

 harbor seal numbers in the central and western Gulf 

 of Alaska and the need to determine and eliminate 

 causes of that decline, the Commission recommended 

 that the Service appoint a group of experts to com- 

 plete a conservation plan for harbor seals in those 

 areas. Subsequently the Service amended the subsis- 

 tence contract with the Alaska Department of Fish and 

 Game to provide for collection of genetic samples as 

 part of the Native subsistence sampling effort. 



As of the end of 1995 the Service had not yet 

 published the result of its status review and had not 

 yet completed a harbor seal conservation plan. 



Ongoing Research and Population Monitoring 



As noted earlier, there are uncertainties about the 

 abundance and apparent population declines of harbor 

 seals in certain areas in Alaska. In an attempt to 

 improve population estimates and resolve other 

 uncertainties, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 convened a workshop in Anchorage on 11-13 Novem- 

 ber 1995 to review Alaska harbor seal population 

 assessment data. A member of the Commission's 

 Committee of Scientific Advisors participated in the 

 workshop. Based on their review of harbor seal 

 survey designs, data analyses procedures, and actual 

 count data for various areas, participants provided 

 recommendations for future research. A workshop 

 report is expected to be available early in 1996. 



In addition, a number of studies have been and are 

 being done to assess harbor seal declines, natural 

 history, and abundance. Between 1991 and 1995 

 biologists at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory 

 conducted replicate abundance surveys throughout 

 Alaska, and radio-tracking studies to estimate the 

 fraction of seals likely to be away from a haul-out 

 beach during a survey period to develop a correction 

 factor for calculating total abundance. Following the 

 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Alaska Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game, in cooperation with the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, conducted oil spill 

 damage assessment studies to document the spill's 

 effects on harbor seals. Since 1992 oil spill restora- 

 tion studies have been conducted annually to monitor 

 harbor seal numbers and to investigate harbor seal 

 biology in the Prince William Sound region. 



Beginning in 1993 additional funding provided by 

 Congress to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

 through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration has allowed harbor seal studies to be 

 conducted in southeastern Alaska and the Kodiak area. 

 These multifaceted studies are addressing seal behav- 

 ior on land and at sea, physiology, disease, population 

 dynamics, and trophic relationships, and have in- 

 volved collaboration with the Service, the University 

 of Alaska, Texas A&M University, and others. 



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