MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1998 



Steller sea lions would remain valid for 1998. On 2 

 March 1998 the Service released a biological opinion 

 that concluded that the Gulf of Alaska groundfish 

 fishery also was not likely to jeopardize the continued 

 existence of Steller sea lions; however, it did not 

 address the Gulf of Alaska fisheries management plan 

 beyond 1998. 



Later in 1998, partially in response to the litigation 

 discussed below, section 7 consultations were initiated 

 on (1) the Atka mackerel fishery because new infor- 

 mation indicated that localized depletion of Atka 

 mackerel by this fishery have a detrimental effect on 

 Steller sea lion foraging success; (2) the Bering 

 Sea/Aleutian Islands walleye pollock fishery because 

 of a new scheme for allocating the total allowable 

 catch of pollock to inshore/offshore sectors of the 

 fishery and because of continued concern that the 

 fishery may compete with Steller sea lions; and (3) the 

 Gulf of Alaska walleye pollock fishery because of 

 concern that the fishery may compete with Steller sea 

 lions, and because the previous biological opinion was 

 to expire at the end of 1998. 



On 3 December 1998 the Service issued a biologi- 

 cal opinion on the possible effects of the Atka macker- 

 el and walleye pollock fisheries under the 1999-2002 

 Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fisheries 

 Management Plan and the walleye pollock fishery 

 under the 1999-2002 Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands 

 groundfish fisheries management plan, and (3) the 

 walleye pollock fishery under the 1999-2002 Gulf of 

 Alaska groundfish fishery management plan. 



The biological opinion concluded that the Atka 

 mackerel fishery is not likely to jeopardize the contin- 

 ued existence of Steller sea lions or result in the 

 destruction or adverse modification of their critical 

 habitat, because the fisheries management plan in- 

 cludes measures to avoid possible significant impacts 

 on Steller sea lions. However, the biological opinion 

 concluded that the walleye pollock fisheries in the 

 Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands region, and the walleye 

 pollock fishery in the Gulf of Alaska region are likely 

 to jeopardize the continued existence of Steller sea 

 lions and adversely modify their critical habitat. 

 Discussions of these three fisheries and their respec- 

 tive biological opinions follow. 



Atka Mackerel Fishery under the 

 Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands 

 Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 



Atka mackerel are found from the Kamchatka 

 Peninsula in Russia to the seas around the Aleutian 

 Islands, Gulf of Alaska, and southeast Alaska. 

 Genetic studies indicate that they comprise one stock, 

 but the larger fish taken in the Gulf of Alaska and the 

 time lag in recruitment between the two regions 

 suggest that the fishery in the Gulf of Alaska is 

 dependent on recruitment of fish from the Bering 

 Sea/Aleutian Islands region. 



Since the early 1990s the fishery generally has 

 commenced in mid- to late January, with most of the 

 allocated catch taken by March or April. Fish are 

 caught by bottom trawl at depths of 200 m (656 feet) 

 or less, in relatively well-defined areas throughout the 

 central and western Aleutian Islands. Because much 

 of the sea floor in these areas is too rocky and rough 

 to bottom trawl, most trawling takes place repeatedly 

 over the same grounds. 



The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands groundfish fishery 

 management plan came into effect in 1982. Because 

 of concerns that the fishery could deplete regional 

 stocks, particularly around Seguam Pass, the Aleutian 

 Islands were divided into three management areas in 

 1993 (management areas 541, 542, and 543; Figure 

 7), with the total allowable catch apportioned between 

 these three areas. A total of 20 Steller sea lion 

 rookeries and 28 major haul-out areas, and most of 

 the Atka mackerel fishery occur within these three 

 management areas. The current fishery plan stipulates 

 that at no time are vessels allowed to fish within the 

 10-nmi no-trawl zones surrounding major rookeries 

 west of 150°W longitude, nor are vessels allowed to 

 fish between 20 January and 15 April within 20 nmi 

 of rookeries on Sea Lion Rock and Ugamak, Akun, 

 Akutan, Seguam, and Agligadak Islands. 



Since 1979 the majority of the Atka mackerel 

 catch has been taken in areas designated as Steller sea 

 lion critical habitat. More than 70 percent of the 

 catch (about 66,400 mt of Atka mackerel per year) 

 occurred within these designated areas from 1995 

 through 1997. Major species taken as bycatch includ- 



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