Chapter III — Marine Mammal/Fisheries Interactions 



being done to address the causes of the declines. 

 Consequently, it was not possible, except for the 

 problem at the Ballard Locks, to judge the extent to 

 which reduction in pirmiped predation might promote 

 recovery of depressed west coast salmonid stocks. 



Based on that analysis, the Commission recom- 

 mended that the report to Congress be expanded to 

 indicate what had been and was being done to address 

 the cause of the depletion {i.e., to stop overfishing 

 and habitat degradation) and the extent to which 

 failure to reduce piimiped predation would prevent or 

 impede recovery of the salmonid stocks of concern. 

 The Commission pointed out that, although pinniped 

 predation may be slowing or preventing recovery, 

 reducing pinniped predation will not result in recovery 

 if overfishing, habitat degradation, or other factors 

 responsible for the decline have not been addressed 

 adequately. Consequently, pinniped predation should 

 be viewed and addressed within the context of a 

 recovery plan designed to address all of the factors 

 preventing or slowing recovery of depleted salmonid 

 stocks. The Commission therefore recommended that 

 the Service request that Congress authorize such steps 

 as may be needed to reduce pinniped predation when 



(1) the proposed action is part of a comprehensive 

 plan to restore one or more specific salmonid stocks, 



(2) the plan has been made available for public review 

 and has been approved by the Service, and (3) there 

 is an adequate monitoring program to verify that the 

 management actions are contributing as expected to 

 the recovery of the salmonid stocks. 



The Marine Mammal Commission also recom- 

 mended that the Service either (a) expand its report to 

 explain the rationale for the criteria that would be 

 used to identify problem pinnipeds and decide when 

 non-lethal deterrents are ineffective, or (b) defer its 

 proposal for authorizing fishermen and government 

 officials to kill pinnipeds until it can be shown with 

 greater certainty that pinniped predation caimot be 

 addressed effectively by practical, non- lethal means. 



As of the end of 1998 the Service had not yet 

 submitted its report to Congress. 



Gulf of Maine Task Force on 

 Aquaculture-Pinniped Interactions 



As recognized by the 1994 amendments to the 

 Marine Mammal Protection Act, marine mammals 

 may have adverse effects on aquaculture operations. 

 One area of particular concern is the northeastern 

 United States, where both the salmon aquaculture 

 industry and local populations of harbor seals and 

 gray seals have increased in recent years. Operators 

 of aquaculture facilities in the area have complained 

 that there has been a corresponding increase in 

 pinniped predation on penned fish. In response. 

 Congress added section 120(h) to the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act. It directed the Secretary of Com- 

 merce to establish a task force to examine situations 

 in which "pinnipeds interact in a dangerous or damag- 

 ing manner with aquaculture resources in the Gulf of 

 Maine." As noted above, the Secretary was directed 

 to report to Congress no later than 30 April 1996 

 recommending measures to mitigate such interactions. 



After consulting the Marine Mammal Commission 

 and others, the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 established a seven-member task force, including 

 representatives of industry, state government, the 

 scientific community, and conservation organizations. 

 After a series of meetings and public hearings in 

 1995, the task force submitted a report of its findings 

 to the Service on 7 February 1996. The report 

 included recommendations for mitigating predation of 

 pen-raised salmon by pinnipeds in New England. 



With regard to the lethal taking of predatory seals, 

 the task force did not endorse culling (i.e., large-scale 

 lethal removal of animals) as a means of reducing 

 potential interactions between seals and aquaculture. 

 There was general agreement among task force mem- 

 bers that three criteria must be met to justify the lethal 

 taking of individual seals: (1) the consequences of the 

 depredation must be severe and demonstrable; (2) the 

 lethal measures being considered must have been 

 proven to be an effective means of solving the prob- 

 lem; and (3) no non-lethal alternatives are available. 

 However, the task force did not reach consensus as to 

 whether the current situation met these criteria. 



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