MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



The four intervenor defendants in this case filed 

 cross claims challenging the Service's actions. 

 Although there are slight differences among the filings 

 from these groups, they basically make similar claims. 

 They believe that the Service acted arbitrarily by 

 making a jeopardy finding in the 3 December 1998 

 biological opinion. Their filings noted that the 

 previous biological opinions all had been "no jeopar 

 dy" determinations and that there was no new scientif- 

 ic information contained in the most recent biological 

 opinion that warranted a different outcome. Likewise, 

 they did not believe that there was an adequate basis 

 for the Service's determination that the pollock 

 fisheries are likely to adversely modify Steller sea lion 

 critical habitat. Citing the regulatory requirement that 

 reasonable and prudent alternatives be economically 

 and technologically feasible, the interveners argued 

 that the Service had failed to assess the feasibility of 

 implementing the alternatives set forth in the biologi- 

 cal opinion. Arguments also were made that the 

 biological opinion failed to take into account changes 

 in fishing practices that will result from enactment of 

 the American Fisheries Act. 



Under the schedule adopted by the court, parties 

 have until 14 January 1999 to determine whether they 

 Intend to seek a preliminary injunction in this case. 



Steller Sea Lion Subsistence Harvests 



Steller sea lions have been hunted by Alaska 

 Natives for subsistence purposes for centuries, but 

 little is known of historic harvest levels. In 1992 the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service contracted with the 

 Alaska Department of Fish and Game to gather data 

 on the annual subsistence harvest of Steller sea lions 

 and harbor seals in Alaska. A system was established 

 by which Native hunters from about 2, 100 households 

 in 60 coastal villages within the species' range are 

 interviewed annually. At least 40 of the communities 

 are located within the range of the western stock of 

 Steller sea lions. 



Survey results indicate that the total subsistence 

 take has steadily declined from about 549 in 1992 to 

 about 339 in 1995. Through 1995 about 79 percent 

 were taken by Aleut hunters from the Aleutian and 

 Pribilof Islands. Overall, about 99 percent were from 

 the western population. Preliminary analyses of the 



1996 data indicate that 179 were taken, of which 149 

 were harvested and 30 were struck and lost. Initial 

 analyses of the 1997 data indicate that 164 Steller sea 

 lions were taken, of which 146 were harvested and 18 

 were struck and lost. As of 31 December, estimates 

 of the 1998 Native subsistence harvest were not yet 

 available. As discussed in last year's annual report, 

 the Service has met with Native hunters to discuss the 

 development of a co-management agreement for 

 Steller sea lions that would lessen the impact of the 

 subsistence harvest on the western population. 

 Discussions were still under way at the end of 1998. 



Northern Fur Seal 

 (Callorhinus ursinus) 



Northern fiir seals occur in coastal waters of the 

 North Pacific Ocean from southern California to Japan 

 and in pelagic waters from about 35 "N latitude to the 

 central Bering Sea (Figure 8). Approximately three- 

 fourths of all northern fur seals breed and pup on St. 

 George Island and St. Paul Island in Alaska's Pribilof 

 Islands. Elsewhere, northern fur seals breed and pup 

 in Russia on the Robben, Kuril, and Commander 

 Islands. Small rookeries also are found on Bogoslof 

 Island in the central Aleutian Islands and San Miguel 

 Island off southern California. When not at these 

 islands, northern fiir seals usually remain at sea 

 feeding. Most pups remain at sea for up to 22 months 

 once they leave their natal rookery. Fur seals display 

 a high degree of site fidelity and usually return to 

 their natal islands to breed and molt. 



Northern fur seals were harvested commercially 

 for their pelts beginning in the late 1700s. By the 

 1800s excessive pelagic harvests of males and females 

 of all ages threatened the species' economic and 

 biological viability. As a result, the principal harvest- 

 ing nations (Canada, Japan, Russia, and the United 

 States) signed the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911. The 

 treaty banned pelagic harvests in lieu of arrangements 

 to share pelts from a managed onshore harvest of sub- 

 adult male seals taken at U.S. and Russian rookeries. 

 By limiting the harvest to subadult males, fur seal 

 numbers were able to increase substantially over the 

 next 30 years. 



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