ANCHORAGE, Steller sea lions from Alaska’s Panhandle to California’s Channel Islands have reached recovery targets and should be removed from the endangered species list, according to the federal agency that oversees them.

The eastern population of the marine mammal has increased from about 34,000 in 1997 to 70,000 in 2010, according to federal officials.

The recommendation Wednesday from the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not affect the endangered status of the western population, which includes sea lions throughout the Aleutian Islands.

Fishing restrictions put in place there to aid sea lions were challenged by commercial fishing interests and the state of Alaska.

“This proposal reflects the continued recovery of the eastern population of Steller sea lions and the strong conservation partnership among NOAA Fisheries, the states, the fishing industry, and other stakeholders,” said Jim Balsinger, Alaska regional administrator, in the announcement.

The federal government listed Steller sea lions in 1990 after population declines. The agency blamed shooting by people who did not want sea lions killing fish.

According to the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources website, Steller sea lions feed on cod, herring, mackerel, pollock rockfish, salmon and other fish, plus squid, octopus and other sea creatures.

The recommendation comes after the agency began a status review in June 2010 and received two petitions, one from Alaska and one from Oregon and Washington, asking that the species no longer be listed as threatened, according to the announcement.

The formal recommendation to remove the protections begins a 60-day comment period that closes June 18. A final decision, the agency said, will be made within a year. If the eastern population comes off the threatened species list, the agency said, it will monitor the population for 10 years.

The western population remains imperiled, according to the agency. Officials at a court hearing in December said a 2008 survey estimated 49,000 sea lions live in the western Aleutians, down from 250,000 in the early 1970s. The state of Alaska and seafood organizations contend that fishing restrictions are unnecessary because the western population is growing by 1 percent to 1.5 percent a year. However, an attorney for the agency at the court hearing said population improvements have not been statistically significant.

An Anchorage federal judge last month ruled that the restrictions should remain in place but ordered the agency to complete by March 2014 an environmental impact statement with the chance for public comment.

Wednesday the federal government took its first step in preparing an environmental impact statement on commercial fishing restrictions in the western Aleutians.  Members of the public can now offer official comment on how Steller sea lion protection measures have affected them.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration closed the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in 2011 in an effort to limit food competition with an endangered stock of Steller sea lions.  After a protracted legal battle, a federal judge determined that the regulations were appropriate, but that NOAA erred in not evaluating the impacts to the human environment through an impact statement.  NOAA must now complete a statement by 2014, a process which could change the way those fisheries are managed.

The written comment period will close on October 15. NOAA will also hear testimony on the issue at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s October meeting.

See also Federal Register Notice from April 17, 2012 on the BSAI Stellar sea lion EIS

There won’t be an Atka mackerel or Pacific cod fishery in the western Aleutians until at least 2015. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess ruled Monday that the National Marine Fisheries Service would have 23 months to assess the impact of its Steller sea lion protection measures in the region.

The agency shut down the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in 2011 after determining that they were adversely affecting the endangered western stock of Steller sea lions. Fisheries groups and the State of Alaska sued NFMS over the closures.

In a January ruling, Judge Burgess upheld the restrictions, but ordered the agency to prepare an environmental impact statement, noting that their initial assessment had not given the public sufficient opportunities to participate. Monday’s ruling gives NFMS almost two years to prepare a more comprehensive statement and nine months after that to decide whether any changes to the current rule are warranted.

The plaintiffs had argued for a much shorter timeline that would have potentially allowed for reopening the fisheries in 2014. The closures are estimated to cost the industry over $80 million a year. Under Monday’s ruling the earliest potential re-opening is January 2015.

John Sackton, Editor And Publisher
Seafood.com News 1-781-861-1441
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Copyright © 2012 Seafoodnews.com

Last month, a federal judge determined that the agency had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to produce an environmental impact statement before shutting down two commercial fisheries in an effort to stop the decline of an endangered stock of sea lions. While Judge Timothy Burgess generally favored NFMS in his ruling and stated that he plans to keep the fishing restrictions in place, he still called upon the agency to review the environmental and socioeconomic effects of the closures as quickly as possible. In a brief filed yesterday, NMFS gave the court two potential timelines for doing so.

The agency says that it could complete an environmental impact statement no earlier than June of next year, and that public participation would be somewhat limited on a timeline that rushed. NMFS is instead arguing for a timeline of 23 months. That would allow the agency to coordinate with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and ideally release their findings in March of 2014, pending any delays.

Meanwhile, the State of Alaska, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, indicated in a separate brief that it would like the statement to be completed a little bit earlier than that. It wants a timeline that would maximize involvement from stakeholders while still potentially allowing for the reopening of the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in the western Aleutians by 2014. NMFS has estimated that the closure of these fisheries is costing the industry over $80 million a year.

The decline of the western stock of Steller sea lions has been a source of controversy for more than two decades now. It’s now been the subject of two federal lawsuits, and tens of millions of dollars have been spent trying to figure out what is causing the population to disappear. There is still no established consensus on why that stock is shrinking, though a biological opinion released by NMFS suggests that competition from commercial fishing vessels may be affecting sea lion diet.

A federal judge has ruled that commercial fishing restrictions aimed at protecting endangered Steller sea lions were properly imposed, because the sea lions are not getting enough food.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess announced his decision in Anchorage on Jan 19 in litigation brought against the federal government by the state of Alaska and Alaska Seafood Cooperative.

Both had argued that since the population of western Steller sea lions was growing at a rate of 1 percent to 1.5 percent annually such restrictions on fishing were not needed.

Burgess wrote in his lengthy decision that “the court must defer to the technical expertise of the agency (National Marine Fisheries Service) as long as there is a rational connection between the evidence and its conclusions.”

Burgess said the evidence, “while equivocal, was sufficient to support its conclusions that the fisheries were likely to jeopardize the continued existence” of the Steller sea lions in the western Aleutians district and negatively affect their critical habitat.

At the same time, the judge admonished the National Marine Fisheries Service for failure to prepare an environmental impact statement and is considering instructing NMFS to do so.

Burgess has given all parties in the case a Feb. 8 deadline to file briefs responding to the court’s proposed decision in the case.

Commercial fishing interests harvesting Pacific cod and Atka mackerel in the western Aleutians contend that such restrictions on where they can fish results in the loss of millions of dollars in fish left unharvested.

John Gauvin, a veteran of the fishing industry who is the science director for the Alaska Seafood Cooperative, said that NMFS has not shown that the commercial harvests have had a negative effect on Steller sea lions in that area where the population is struggling, but has acknowledge a strong likelihood that orca whales are having a negative effect on that population.

Susan Murray, senior director for the Pacific region of Oceana, called the court’s decision a good day for the oceans. Murray said “this decision shows that responsible management requires steps to protect healthy ocean ecosystems including sustainable fisheries and vibrant communities. We are moving away form managing single species money fish and toward ecosystem-based management that takes into account the needs of apex predators in our oceans.”

Colin O’Brien, staff attorney at Earthjustice, said the decision “validates the agency’s use of the best science to protect our oceans. The next step is a full evaluation of the impacts of fisheries on ocean ecosystems, including Steller sea lions.”

 Listen to audio |  Download audio (7:47)

Aleutian Fishermen Fight ‘Draconian’ Steller Sea Lion Protections
Alaska Dispatch, December 21, 2011
By Jill Burke

Alaska’s yellowfin sole fishery feeds millions of people throughout the world every year. Certified as a sustainable fishery, this Video Buyer’s Guide examines how the fishery is conducted, how the fish are processed and some of the primary product forms that are produced.

Uploaded by AbundantOceans on Sep 18, 2011

The Alaska Seafood Cooperative represents the majority of the vessels operating in one of the first “Catch Share” programs developed for conservation purposes. This video examines how Cooperatives – rather than competition – can lead to innovations in ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Uploaded by AbundantOceans on Sep 15, 2011

Captains Bay, AK – For years, scientist have tried figuring out why the western stock of Steller sea lions have continued to decline. Now, a team of university researchers, commercial fishermen, and military contractors are testing a new way to monitor the endangered animals. KUCB’s Alexandra Gutierrez has more…..

Click to hear Alexandra Gutierrez/KUCB talk about drone survelliance of Stellar sea lion habitat.