Chapter HI — Species of Special Concern 



of food limitation is less apparent, and instead a 

 combination of factors appears to be involved, includ- 

 ing mortality of adult females and juveniles due to 

 attacks by groups of aggressive male seals. Entangle- 

 ment in marine debris also may be a contributing 

 factor, particularly at Lisianski Island where especially 

 large quantities of nets and other debris wash ashore. 



Seal counts on Kure Atoll, the smallest of the five 

 major breeding colonies, and Pearl and Hermes Reef, 

 now approximately the same size as the Lisianski and 

 Laysan Island populations, have increased over the 

 past 15 years, but not enough to offset declines at the 

 other larger colonies. 



Against this backdrop there recently have been 

 several significant developments bearing on monk seal 

 recovery. In 1992 the LORAN station operated by 

 the Coast Guard on Kure Atoll was closed. When 

 demolition and clean up work was completed in 1993, 

 Kure was left unoccupied and free of human distur- 

 bance for the first time since 1960 when the station 

 began operations. Also, in 1993 the Navy announced 

 plans to close and clean up its Naval Air Station on 

 the Midway Islands and to transfer the atoll to a new 

 owner by 1997. Finally, in response to a failing 

 bulkhead on Tern Island at French Frigate Shoals that 

 could force abandonment of the only airstrip and 

 permanent field station between Midway and the main 

 Hawaiian Islands, the Fish and Wildlife has been 

 developing plans for the construction of a new shore 

 protection system. 



In light of these changes and the alarming decline 

 in monk seal numbers, in 1994 the Marine Mammal 

 Commission began a review of the Hawaiian monk 

 seal recovery program and related activities. Mem- 

 bers of the Commission's staff met with Federal and 

 state officials in Hawaii in September, and the Com- 

 mission examined recovery needs at its 16-18 Novem- 

 ber 1994 annual meeting in Falmouth, Massachusetts. 

 Based on the results, the Commission determined that 

 a comprehensive interagency monk seal program 

 review should be held, and it began planning for an 

 in-depth program review in 1995 with the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. Pending that review, the 

 Commission wrote to the Service and the Navy on 30 

 November 1994, providing comments and recommen- 

 dations on priority recovery needs. 



In its letter to the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, the Commission noted the urgent need to 

 strengthen the recovery program. Among other 

 things, it recommended that the Service: 



• expand work begun in 1984 to remove and rehabil- 

 itate underweight seals from French Frigate Shoals 

 and relocate them at smaller colonies; 



• begin working with the Navy on plans to release 

 rehabilitated seals at the Midway Islands to help 

 restore that breeding colony; 



• increase efforts to evaluate monk seal foraging 

 patterns and prey resources at French Frigate 

 Shoals and close waters at that atoll to lobster 

 fishing, pending study results showing that lobster 

 fishing would not reduce a prey resource important 

 to the atoll's seal colony; and 



• establish field camps to monitor monk seals at all 

 five major breeding colonies plus the Midway 

 Islands in 1995. 



To carry out the most essential research and 

 management work, the Commission recommended that 

 $1.2 million be provided to the monk seal program in 

 Fiscal Year 1995, an amount more than twice the 

 program's base funding level in 1994. 



In its 30 November 1994 letter to the Navy, the 

 Commission noted that closure of the Midway air 

 station offered a much needed chance to restore a 

 major monk seal breeding colony to the atoll. Also 

 noting that the disappearance of monk seals from 

 Midway coincided with, and was likely related to, the 

 expansion of station facilities and operations in the 

 1950s and 1960s, the Commission expressed its belief 

 that the Navy had an obligation to help restore a 

 viable breeding colony of seals at Midway. Soon 

 after announcing its decision to close the facility, the 

 Navy began to assess contaminant clean-up needs and 

 mitigate wildlife hazards. The efforts were well 

 planned and carried out in close cooperation with the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service, and others, and the Commission 

 commended the Navy for its initiative and commit- 

 ment to these important tasks. In addition, the 

 Commission recommended that the Navy (1) consult 

 with the National Marine Fisheries Service to identify 

 and help support actions needed to restore monk seals 

 to levels counted at Midway in the late 1950s, and (2) 



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