Species Management and Conservation Plans 



The need for research and management plans for certain 

 marine mammals also was addressed in late 1988 in amendments to 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act. As noted in Chapter II, the 

 1988 amendments added a new section to the Act requiring marine 

 mammal status reviews and the development of conservation plans 

 (similar to recovery plans required under the Endangered Species 

 Act) for depleted marine mammal populations. With respect to 

 marine mammals in Alaska, the amendments directed the Secretary 

 of Commerce to prepare conservation plans for North Pacific fur 

 seals and Steller sea lions by 31 December 1989 and 31 December 

 1990, respectively. The Senate report accompanying the amend- 

 ments also indicated that, at the discretion of the Secretaries, 

 the Act's provisions could be applied to development of conser- 

 vation plans for non-depleted marine mammal species that could 

 benefit from the preparation of such plans. 



On 6 December 1988, the Commission wrote to the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service to provide comments and recommendations 

 on implementing the 1988 amendments. With respect to conser- 

 vation plans, the Commission noted that it had first provided the 

 Service with a draft conservation plan outline for North Pacific 

 fur seals in 1985, and that much of the work to develop a plan 

 for Steller sea lions had been done in the species account for 

 that species in the Commission's publication on selected marine 

 mammals in Alaska. The Commission therefore noted that it should 

 be possible to complete plans for both species within three to 

 six months. 



At the Commission's Annual Meeting in Monterey, California, 

 in February 1989, the Commission was advised by the Service that 

 work had begun on both plans. At the end of 1989, however, the 

 statutorily established date for completing a North Pacific fur 

 seal conservation plan passed without release of a draft plan by 

 the Service and the Commission had received no further infor- 

 mation regarding the development of a plan for Steller sea lions. 



On 11 January 1989, the Commission wrote to the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service regarding implementation of the 1988 amendments 

 to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In its letter, the 

 Commission noted that it believed that the Service, while not 

 specifically required to do so, should prepare conservation plans 

 for walrus, polar bears, and sea otters. It also noted that much 

 of the needed background work for those plans was included in the 

 species accounts for those species in its publication on selected 

 marine mammals in Alaska. On 3 March 1989, the Service replied 

 noting that: it planned to develop conservation plans for all 

 three species; it had already begun to develop a plan for walrus; 

 and it intended to begin the planning process for polar bears and 

 sea otters shortly. 



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