MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
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French Frigate Shoals 
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Figure 1. The Hawaiian Archipelago 
The first systematic counts of Hawaiian monk seals 
were made in the late 1950s. Over the next 20 years 
monk seal numbers apparently declined by half. The 
U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel stationed at 
certain Northwestern Hawaiian Islands may have con- 
tributed to, if not precipitated, declines at some 
islands by disturbing seals hauled out on beaches 
during sensitive pupping, nursing, molting, and 
resting periods. 
In light of the species’ status, in 1975 the Marine 
Mammal Commission recommended to the National 
Marine Fisheries Service that the Hawaiian monk seal 
be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species 
Act and that certain breeding islands be designated as 
critical habitat. The Service acted promptly on the 
former recommendation, listing the species as endan- 
gered in November 1976. After extensive delibera- 
tions, in 1986 the Service designated the species’ 
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breeding islands and surrounding waters out to 10 
fathoms as critical habitat. Consistent with the 
recommendations of the Commission, and later the 
Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Team (see below), the 
Service subsequently expanded the designated area out 
to 20 fathoms in 1988. 
During the late 1970s the Service was unable to 
support all the studies necessary to initiate a recovery 
program for monk seals. The Commission therefore 
provided funding for certain field research to begin 
obtaining data on population parameters and trends. 
During this period, the Commission also convened a 
meeting to develop a five-year research plan for 
Hawaiian monk seals and recommended that the 
Service form a recovery team and prepare a recovery 
plan for Hawaiian monk seals pursuant to provisions 
of the Endangered Species Act. In 1980 the Service 
convened the first meeting of the Hawaiian Monk Seal 
