MANAGEMENT AND THE IUCN PINNIPED ACTION PLAN

Dr. Peter Reijnders IUCN SealSpecialis t Group

I. Introduction

There are 34 different species of (seals, seals, and sea ). Somear e already moreo r lessextinct , liketh e Caribbean . For many others, our knowledgeo f the species and numbers is imperfect and it is thus very difficult to assess the status of those populations,no tt omentio nth edesig n ofadequat e management andconservatio n plans.

Nonetheless, there are at present 5 international legal instruments relevant to pinniped conservation: the Convention on Migratory Species or Bonn Convention, the Bern Convention, the Barcelona Convention whose fourth protocol includes the MEDSPA (Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas) a plan for creating protected areas in the Mediterranean, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic seals or London Convention and the CITES Convention. The latter in particular regulates trade for several species of pinnipeds. CITES lists pinniped species as follows:

* Appendix I (totally protected). The , the Hawaiian monk seal and theGuadalup e . *Appendi x II.Al lothe r fur seals,excep tth enorther n fur seal andth esouther n elephantseal . *Appendi x III.Al lothe r pinnipedspecies .

It is evident that, listing any species on a "red list" or bringing it under a convention, or national law docsno t automatically mean that itsmanagemen t orprotectio n iscomplet e and its future is certain. The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachmmonachis) is a clear example. Despitebein g protected both nationally and internationally, itsnumber s continuet odecreas eo r remain low and itseem sunlikel ytha t any recovery willhappe n inth enex tdecades .

II. The IUCN Pinniped Action Plan

1.conten t and scope

Taking into account that legal systems cannot always prevent species and populations becoming threatened, the IUCN's recently published Pinniped Action Plan is aimed mostly at maintaining biodiversity in pinniped habitats, using habitat protection rather than species by species conservation as the major instrument for pinniped conservation. However, it does also take intoaccoun t somespecifi c requirements ofendangere dspecies .

Itcontain sth efollowin g broadsections :

*a revise d listingan d assignment ofcategorie so fthrea t topinniped s inth eIUC NRe dLis t *classificatio n ofpinniped s (including somene wopinion so ntaxonomy ) *a n overview ofth e status ofal l 34pinnipe d species (with information on distribution, trophic relationships,populatio n dynamics andhuma n impacts) *majo r threats topinnipe d populations * recommendations for conservation actions to ameliorate the problems of endangered or vulnerable species * recommendations for conservation actions where species are inconflic t with human resource uses,particularl y with PinnipedManagement 110 Dr.P. Reijnders

2. threats to pinnipeds

For the management and conservation of pinnipeds, it is relevant to classify categories of threats based on factors that could affect pinniped populations. In the Action Plan those are arranged in terms of the immediacy of their effect: immediate, intermediate and long term threats. In the context of this particular conference, the focus of this paper will be mainly on themos t prominent area ofimmediat eeffects , i.e. theimpac t offisherie s onseals .Thi sca ntak e four major forms:

*direc tharves tfo r seal commodities *incidenta l killing • *direc tkillin gfo rth epurpose so fregulatin gpinnipe dnumber s *effec t offishin g activity onfoo d availability

-international trade inseal s (direct harvest)

A number ofpinnipe d species are still harvested commercially. These include the southern sea , , South African fur seal, , , and hooded seals.Th einternationa l trade includestw omajo r activities:

*sea l skintradin g inCanad a *fu r sealtrad eworldwid e

Therear eadditionally , substantial subsistenceharvest so f , larga, ringedribbon,, hoode d andbearde d seals.

Therear ecertai n problems with obtaining figures for thevolum eo f international trade inseals , because reports tend only produced by countries that are members of CITES and usually only includeth especie s that areendangere d ora t least ona CITES appendix.Nonetheless , basedo n the available data, it would appear that there is certainly some interest in a trade in some seal commodities.

Amajo r requirement toevaluat eth e impacto fth edirec t harvest ist oachiev ea bette r definition of units of trade, such that they can be related to pinniped numbers. This will allow a more objective assessment ofth e impact of such a harvest onth e conservation status of the pinniped population involved.

- incidental orby-catc h

The volume of incidental catches of seals is if anything even more difficult to assess than the direct harvest volume. It'i s recommended to see put in place some kind of standardised protocol for the collection óf catch data, similar to some of the observer schemes that are already operational in fisheries and on whaling, with the objective of giving an assessment of the true extent of the problem. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence for an incidental by- catch ofseal s byfishermen , but iti sprovin gver ydifficul t toacquir eaccurat e figures.

- direct regulation ofsea lnumber s (culling)

The South African fur seal is one of the last species where direct regulation of numbersha s a major impact onth epopulation . Thecul l iscarrie d out largely becauseth e seals are perceived as competitors for fish. The most critical question we feel should beaske d here is whetherth e regulation of pinniped numbers in a given population actually leads to the fish that is then not eatenb yth epinnipeds ,bein gavailabl et o fishermen. PinnipedManagement 111 Dr.P. Reijnders

One of the results of a workshop held in Bcngucla, Angola, was that it did not in fact seem possible to predict ina clear cut waytha t thekillin go f 30,000 seals would benefit the fisheries ofthat specific area.

- effect offishing activit y onfoo d availability

Onlya fe w reportsar eavailabl e inwhic hth epossibl e effect of reduction inpre yavailabilit yo n seal populations have been proposed. Inevitably, the evidence linking observed changes in seal populations to the results offishing is circumstantial, as is the evidence for detrimental effects of seal prédation on catches of fish. This is partly due to the fact that most studies are retrospective andi t are solely the result of overfishing or of environmental changes or a combination of both. In conclusion, it is clear that the relationship between pinniped numbers,fish stock s and fisheries yields isno talway s asimpl eone .

3. recommended conservation and management actions

Three different sets of conservation and management actions are recommended: 1)action s that focus on , 2) actions to evaluate major threats to pinnipeds and 3) actions that improve our knowledge about the role of pinnipeds and their function in the marine ecosystem. The first two sets are directly contributing to the protection of some and prevent other species from being classified as such inth e near future. However, it isemphasize d that actions under3 ar eals oo fhig hpriority , sinceon eo fth eprincipl e objectives of the Pinniped Action Plan is to understand more clearly the functioning of pinnipeds in the marine ecosystem, with the aim of achieving a management system that is multi-species oriented. To that end, its emphasis is on carrying out management-oriented scientific research intopinnipe d ecology, inthre emai nareas :

a) Feeding ecology. At present we have very little information on pinniped feeding habits at sea. b) The interaction of seals, fish stocks, yields and other components of the marine ecosystem. As mentioned earlier, it is not straightforward to predict how changes in seal populations would affect thefish stocks , the fishery yields or someothe r parameter, or indeed how changes in the fishery would impact on the fish stocks and in turn on the pinniped population. c) The last and most important aim of the plan is the promotion of a more collaborative approach to ecosystem management. There needs to be an integrated management of all components of themarin e ecosystem from plankton to whales, using the expertise of scientists from oceanographers toecologica l modellers. This isth eonl ywa yw eca nhop et o answer fully thequestion sabou t theeffec t that human activities haveha d and have onpinnipe d populations. Only if we have enough information available will wege t the kind of answers that we require onth ebes t mechanisms for responsible management ofpinnipeds ,allowin g scientists tomak ea strong case for the responsible management of pinnipeds, in the context of an entire marine ecosystem management.