2007 Annual Report
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MARINE MA mm AL CO mm ISSION Annual Report to Congress 2007 Marine Mammal Commission 4340 East-West Highway, Room 700 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 October 2008 Marine Mammal Commission John E. Reynolds, III, Ph.D. Vera Alexander, Ph.D. Paul K. Dayton, Ph.D. Chairman University of Alaska Scripps Institution of Mote Marine Laboratory Fairbanks, Alaska Oceanography Sarasota, Florida La Jolla, California Committee of Scientific Advisors on Members of the Staff Marine Mammals Timothy J. Ragen, Ph.D. Lloyd F. Lowry, Chairman Executive Director Fairbanks, Alaska Robert C. Gisiner, Ph.D. Daryl J. Boness, Ph.D. Scientific Program Director University of Maine David W. Laist Hartford, Maine Policy and Program Analyst Frances M.D. Gulland, Vet. M.B., Ph.D. Michael L. Gosliner, Esq. The Marine Mammal Center General Counsel Sausalito, California Suzanne Montgomery John A. Hildebrand, Ph.D. Special Assistant to the Executive Director Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla, California Jeannie K. Drevenak Permit Officer Sue Moore, Ph.D. NOAA/Alaska Fisheries Science Center Michael Simpkins, Ph.D. Seattle, Washington Assistant Scientific Program Director Andrew J. Read, Ph.D. Wilhelmina Innes Duke University Marine Laboratory Research Program Officer Beaufort, North Carolina Lauren McChesney Randall R. Reeves, Ph.D. Knauss SeaGrant Fellow Okapi Wildlife Associates Cathy Jones Hudson, Quebec, Canada Administrative Officer Ian Stirling, Ph.D. Darel E. Jordan Canadian Wildlife Service Staff Assistant Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Melissa Herman Douglas Wartzok, Ph.D. Staff Assistant Florida International University Miami, Florida Commission Offices Special Advisor on Native Affairs 4340 East-West Highway, Room 700 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Roswell L. Schaeffer, Sr. Phone: 301-504-0087 Kotzebue, Alaska Fax: 301-504-0099 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.mmc.gov Front cover: Photographs by Phillip Colla, www.oceanlight.com. Design by Raj Patel, North Potomac, Maryland. ii Contents I. Introduction. ....................................................................................................................................1 II. Special Focus: Marine Mammal Issues on the U.S. West Coast .................................................7 Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) ..................................................................................................8 Climate Change ........................................................................................................................10 Anthropogenic Sound ...............................................................................................................11 Marine Mammal Health ...........................................................................................................13 Growing Pinniped Interactions along the U.S. West Coast ......................................................15 Marine Mammal Stock Assessments ........................................................................................17 Pinniped–Salmonid Interactions at Bonneville Dam ...............................................................20 Southern Sea Otters in California (Enhydra lutris nereis) .......................................................26 Northern Sea Otters in Washington State (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) .........................................29 Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) .....................................................................31 Subsistence Whaling by the Makah Tribe ................................................................................35 III. Other Species of Special Concern ................................................................................................39 Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) .................................................................39 Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) ..................................................................................................47 Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi) .....................................................................54 North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) ..................................................................63 North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica) ...................................................................71 Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) ...................................................................72 Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus) .....................................................................................79 Northern Sea Otter, Southwest Alaska Stock (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) ...................................83 IV. Special Projects of the Commission.............................................................................................89 Marine Mammals and Noise ....................................................................................................89 The Biological Viability of the Most Endangered Marine Mammals in U.S. Waters and the Cost-Effectiveness of Protection Programs ...........................................................92 The Ecological Role of Killer Whales in the North Pacific .....................................................95 Development of Monitoring Strategies for Arctic Marine Mammals ......................................96 V. Research and Studies Program ....................................................................................................99 Workshop and Planning Meetings ............................................................................................99 Commission-Sponsored Research and Study Projects ...........................................................100 Survey of Federally Funded Research ...................................................................................103 VI. Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response ..................................................................105 Draft Programmatic EIS on the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program 105 Unusual Mortality Events .......................................................................................................108 Prescott Grant Program ..........................................................................................................112 iii VII. Marine Mammal/Fisheries Interactions ...................................................................................113 Stock Assessments and List of Fisheries ................................................................................113 Take Reduction Teams ...........................................................................................................115 The Tuna/Dolphin Issue .........................................................................................................123 VIII. Marine Mammals and Acoustics ...............................................................................................131 Research .................................................................................................................................132 Regulatory Activities ..............................................................................................................133 IX. International Aspects of Marine Mammal Conservation and Management .........................141 International Whaling Commission ........................................................................................141 International Conservation of Polar Bears .............................................................................145 Species in Foreign and International Waters ..........................................................................149 X. Reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act ........................................................167 XI. Permits and Authorizations To Take Marine Mammals .........................................................169 Permit Application Review ....................................................................................................169 Review of the Scientific Permit Process ................................................................................170 General Authorization for Scientific Research .......................................................................170 Polar Bear Trophy Imports .....................................................................................................170 Small-Take Authorizations .....................................................................................................171 Appendix A 2007 Marine Mammal Commission Recommendations and Agency Responses .............................................................................................................173 Appendix B Selected Literature Published Elsewhere Resulting from Commission-Sponsored Activities—Updated .................................................................205 iv List of Tables Table III-1. Marine mammals listed as endangered, threatened, or depleted as of 31 December 2007 ....................................................................................40 Table III-2. Reported Alaska Native subsistence take of Cook Inlet beluga whales, 1993–2007 ......................................................................................44 Table III-3. Number of polar bears reported taken by Alaska Natives, 1980–2007 .......................52 Table III-4. Short- and long-term actions and projected cost estimates, Hawaiian monk seal revised recovery plan ...................................................................57