MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
Alaska Department of Fish and Game; and pamphlets, 
posters, and signs produced and distributed by the 
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 
Immediately following the program review, the 
Steller Sea Lion Recovery Team met to evaluate 
progress and identify additional research and manage- 
ment needs. The team noted that, although the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, as of mid-Novem- 
ber 1992, had not adopted the Recovery Plan or 
designated critical habitat, as had been recommended, 
almost all of the high-priority items identified in the 
research section of the draft Recovery Plan had been 
initiated. The team concluded that, if funding is 
continued at present levels, the current research 
program should provide the data necessary to evaluate 
the effectiveness of measures necessary to stop and 
reverse the population decline. The team endorsed 
the educational programs underway at various agen- 
cies, but noted that the materials distributed often did 
not provide the rationale behind actions being taken. 
The team therefore recommended that future educa- 
tional efforts include better explanations of why 
various actions are needed. The team also noted a 
lack of emphasis on enforcement and recommended 
that the Steller sea lion recovery coordinator prepare 
an information package for enforcement officers. 
Steller Sea Lion-Fisheries Interactions 
As noted above, a possible cause of the observed 
Steller sea lion decline is the exploitation of prey 
species, particularly walleye pollock, by commercial 
fisheries. In June 1991 the National Marine Fisheries 
Service took several actions to mitigate the adverse 
effects of fisheries on Steller sea lions in Alaska. At 
that time the Service prohibited groundfish trawling 
within 10 nautical miles of 18 Steller sea lion rooker- 
ies in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, allocated 
area catch quotas for walleye pollock to divert fishing 
effort away from sea lion foraging habitat, and placed 
limits on the total amount of walleye pollock that 
could be harvested in any quarter of the year. 
On 18 November 1991 the Service issued a pro- 
posed rule to make these measures permanent. On 23 
January 1992 the Service issued a final rule expanding 
the proposed rule to prohibit trawling year-round 
within 10 nautical miles of 37 Steller sea lion rooker- 
38 
ies in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. In doing 
SO, it also extended the buffer zone around the Steller 
sea lion rookeries at Akutan, Akun, Seguam, and 
Adligadak Islands and Sea Lion Rock from 10 to 20 
nautical miles during the species’ pupping season from 
1 January to 15 April of each year. 
However, in addition to taking the above actions in 
1991, the Service also increased total allowable catch 
of walleye pollock in the Gulf of Alaska to 103,600 
metric tons — an amount 30,000 metric tons greater 
than its 1990 catch limit. This action was inconsistent 
with advice provided by the Steller Sea Lion Recovery 
Team, and on 26 June 1991 the Sierra Club Legal 
Defense Fund, on behalf of Greenpeace and several 
other environmental groups, filed a lawsuit (Green- 
peace v. Franklin, formerly Greenpeace v. Mos- 
bacher) in the U.S. District Court for the Western 
District of Washington. 
The suit alleged that the National Marine Fisheries 
Service had violated the Endangered Species Act by 
improperly finding that the authorized 1991 pollock 
catch level was not likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence of the Steller sea lion and by failing to use 
the best scientific and commercial information avail- 
able to determine the total allowable catch. Plaintiffs 
also contended that the Service’s conclusion that the 
1991 pollock catch would not have significant envi- 
ronmental impacts and its decision not to prepare an 
environmental impact statement on the action violated 
the National Environmental Policy Act. 
On 10 October 1991 the district court ruled in 
favor of the Federal defendants. Greenpeace appealed 
the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for 
the Ninth Circuit on 11 October 1991. The appellate 
court issued its opinion affirming the decision on 29 
December 1992. The court ruled that the Service’s 
conclusion that the 1991 pollock fishery would have 
no significant environmental impacts was supported by 
adequate evidence. The court also found that the 
Service’s “no jeopardy” biological opinion was 
supported with “ample data and analysis.” 
Sea Lion Rock 
Sea Lion Rock is a small rock outcropping within 
the Copalis National Wildlife Refuge and Washington 
