MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1995 



of different prey species for different age classes of 

 seals remains poorly known. Satellite-tracking work 

 begun in 1993 has been limited to three sub-adult 

 male monk seals per year at French Frigate Shoals. 

 The results revealed that most tagged monk seals 

 stayed near the atoll; however, some spent time away 

 from the atoll and one moved repeatedly 50 to 100 

 miles northeast of the atoll, diving to depths exceeding 

 the 500-meter scale of the depth recorder. Highest 

 priority has been placed on monk seal rehabilitation, 

 population monitoring, and mobbing work by the 

 Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Team and it has not 

 recommended expanding these tracking studies. 

 Consistent with this advice, the Service advised the 

 panel that it planned to continue scat sampling and 

 satellite-tagging work at current levels. It noted, 

 however, that the additional funds were being consid- 

 ered to test new global positioning system tags to 

 track seals. 



Because of their limited mobility and size and their 

 presence near pupping beaches, lobsters and octopuses 

 may be important prey for young seals learning to 

 feed. Lobsters, and incidentally some octopuses, also 

 are taken commercially in the Northwestern Hawaiian 

 Islands. Although most fishing effort has been east 

 and west of French Frigate Shoals at Necker Island 

 and Maro Reef where catch rates are much greater, 

 some fishing has occurred at French Frigate Shoals. 

 Lobster catch rates declined significantly throughout 

 the 1980s and, after the apparent ecosystem-wide 

 decline in productivity in 1990, lobster fishing in the 

 Northwestern Hawaiian Islands was suspended in 

 1993. The fishery reopened briefly in 1995 to assess 

 stock recovery, but was again closed because of 

 continued low catch rates. Limited lobster fishing is 

 being considered by the Western Pacific Regional 

 Fishery Management Council for 1996. 



The panel was concerned that too little was being 

 done to assess monk seal prey preferences and forag- 

 ing patterns, particularly given the increase in pro- 

 gram funding in 1995. With the Coast Guard and the 

 Navy leaving Kure and Midway, respectively, the 

 panel noted that future recovery would probably 

 depend on at-sea factors. Also, because of limited 

 reef habitat in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 

 seals could be particularly vulnerable to impacts from 

 commercial fishing and pollution. The panel recog- 



nized the need for data on at-sea habitat use to evalu- 

 ate such factors and to estimate carrying capacity 

 levels. Therefore it recommended that work on prey 

 analyses and at-sea tracking be expanded and that 

 funding to test new global positioning tags be applied 

 to proven satellite-tagging technology. The panel also 

 recommended that, pending better information on the 

 importance of lobsters in the diet of young seals, any 

 efforts to open the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands' 

 lobster fishery include a closure around French 

 Frigate Shoals. 



After the meeting, field researchers reported that 

 initial beach counts at French Frigate Shoals were 25 

 percent lower than counts in 1994 and that young 

 seals continued to show signs of malnourishment and 

 starvation. The Commission's 4 August letter to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service therefore expressed 

 concern about commercial exploitation of prey re- 

 sources for seals at French Frigate Shoals. It noted 

 that the low catch rate of lobsters in past commercial 

 catches at French Frigate Shoals could be the result of 

 lobster consumption by the large local seal population. 

 Given the clear and continuing signs of malnourished 

 seals at this site and the uncertainty about juvenile 

 prey preferences, the Commission recommended that 

 the Service maintain a lobster fishing closure at 

 French Frigate Shoals pending better data to assess 

 impacts so that, if the fishery reopens, a potentially 

 important prey resource for young seals at this site 

 will not be reduced. 



Interagency Coordination and Program Over- 

 sight — Although many agencies and groups have 

 responsibilities and interests related to the recovery of 

 Hawaiian monk seals, the panel was advised that the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service has not held 

 periodic interagency meetings to review progress and 

 opportunities for cooperative work. Because of staff 

 workloads, agency coordination has instead been 

 handled by the Service's regional office staff on an ad 

 hoc basis. Also, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery 

 Team, whose membership has not changed in several 

 years, has not sought to fill this need. 



The panel was impressed by the commitment and 

 interest shown by the key agency representatives at 

 the Commission's review and by the efforts of the 

 Service's management staff to work with other agency 



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