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Second Revision of Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal

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RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL (Monachus schauinslandi) REVISION 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 6 NWHI Subpopulations 6 NWHI Estimated Abundance at at Abundance Estimated 1000 900 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 Year National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration August 2007 RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL (Monachus schauinslandi) REVISION Original Version: March 1983 Prepared by National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Approved: - __a:=-~.=...::::=:' '""""""""'""----"1_, ---,Yb"'---=--~--.f=-'--- ______ William T. Hogarth, Ph.D, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Date August 22, 2007 DISCLAIMER Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions which the best available information indicates are necessary to recover and/or protect listed species. Plans are published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), sometimes prepared with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, State agencies and others. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views, official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the plan formulation, other than NMFS. They represent the official position of NMFS only after they have been signed by the Assistant Administrator. Recovery plans are guidance and planning documents only; identification of an action to be implemented by any public or private party does not create a legal obligation beyond existing legal requirements. Nothing in this plan should be construed as a commitment or requirement that any Federal agency obligate or pay funds in any one fiscal year in excess of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year in contravention of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. 1341, or any other law or regulation. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and the completion of recovery actions. Literature Citation should read as follows: National Marine Fisheries Service. 2007. Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi). Second Revision. National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, MD. 165 pp. Additional copies may be obtained from: National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Regional Office 1601 Kapiolani Blvd Suite 1110 Honolulu, HI 96814 (808) 944-2244 This Recovery plan may be downloaded at no cost from the NMFS website: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/pinnipeds/hawaiianmonkseal.htm Cover photo by John Johnson (onebreathphoto.com) is of a female, juvenile Hawaiian monk seal that was protected, along with her mother, by volunteers during their six-week nursing period on the North Shore of Oahu. Sadly, this pup was found drowned in a gill net about three months after her weaning, highlighting one of the threats that Hawaiian monk seals face on the road to recovery. The graph on the cover (prepared by Jason Baker, NMFS PIFSC) depicts the estimated decline in abundance for the Hawaiian monk seals in the 6 Northwest Hawaiian Islands subpopulations, serving as a graphic reminder of the recovery challenge. This graph does not include abundance estimates for Necker, Nihoa or the main Hawaiian Islands. Error bars indicate + 2 standard errors and either – 2 standard errors or known minimum abundance. The fitted trend line reveals an estimated decline of 3.9% per year. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NMFS gratefully acknowledges the work of the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Team (HMSRT) in developing the original draft of this Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal. That draft was subsequently modified by NMFS. The members of the Hawaiian Monk Sea Recovery Team who participated in the preparation of the draft plan are: Dr. Joshua Ginsberg – Chair Dr. Don Bowen Vice President, Conservation Operations Bedford Institute of Oceanography Wildlife Conservation Society Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada Mr. Paul Dalzell Mr. William Gilmartin Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Hawaii Wildlife Fund Council (WPRFMC) Dr. Dan Goodman Dr. Frances Gulland Dept. of Ecology, Montana State University Marine Mammal Center Rebecca Hommon, J.D. Mr. David Kaltoff Navy Region Hawaii Fishing Representative Dr. Steve Montgomery Mr. Don Palawski National Wildlife Federation National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dr. Don Siniff Dr. Jeff Walters Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Department of Land and Natural University of Minnesota, retired Resources, State of Hawaii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS from HMSRT The HMSRT would like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals for their assistance, expert advice and information. Lloyd Lowry (Marine Mammal Commission) was instrumental in assisting the HMSRT in drafting and editing large sections of this Plan. Jessica Rogers (Wildlife Conservation Society) provided invaluable assistance to the HMSRT, and particularly to the Chair, in shepherding the process of seven revisions of the Plan. Staff of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s (PIFSC) Marine Mammal Research Program provided data, writing, time, and advice on many, if not most, aspects of the Plan. While it is dangerous to single out individuals for fear of forgetting someone, Jan Kamiya, John R. Henderson, Thea Johanos-Kam, Jason Baker, George (Bud) Antonelis, and Russell Ito have all contributed significantly. The NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) provided tremendous support to the HMSRT and hosted our frequent meetings over the last few years. Alan Everson, who initially took on the task of supporting the HMSRT as a 6 month responsibility additional to his normal duties, continued as the support officer for the HMSRT nearly three years later. Others at PIRO who supported the HMSRT include (but are not limited to): PIFSC Director Samuel Pooley, Karla Gore, and Charis David. Mary iii Donohue (Sea Grant, University of Hawaii); Dave Smith and Dave Gulko (State of Hawaii, Department of Land and Natural Resources); Mark Mitsuyasu, Marcia Hamilton, Jarad Makaiau, Kevin Kelly, Irene Kinan (Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council); Steve Barclay, Jerry Leinecke, and John Hicky (US Fish and Wildlife Service); Hans Van Tilburg (University of Hawaii) and Dr. Robert Braun were all instrumental in this process. The HMSRT also thanks the various agencies, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and businesses that employ the HMSRT members, and kindly donated the time of their staff to this effort. In particular, we sincerely thank the self-employed and retired members of the HMSRT who were not compensated for the hours that they dedicated to this effort. iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is in crisis: the population is in a decline that has lasted 20 years and only around 1200 monk seals remain. Modeling predicts the species’ population will fall below 1000 animals in the next five years. Like the extinct Caribbean monk seal and the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal, the Hawaiian monk seal is headed to extinction if urgent action is not taken. Implementation of this plan, adequate resources, and improved coordination and cooperation provide hope that the species decline can be reversed. For more than two decades, great effort has been made to manage, study, and recover the Hawaiian monk seal. However, actions to date have not been sufficient to result in a recovering population. The species status would undoubtedly have been worse but for these actions. Nonetheless, significant threats face this species: • Very low survival of juveniles and sub-adults due to starvation (believed to be principally related to food limitation) has persisted for many years across much of the population • Entanglement of seals in marine debris has and continues to result in significant levels of seal mortality • Predation of juvenile seals by Galapagos sharks has significantly increased • Human interactions in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) including recreational fishery interactions, mother-pup disturbance on popular beaches, and exposure to disease • Hawaiian monk seal haul-out and pupping beaches are being lost to erosion in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), and monk seal prey resources in the NWHI may have been reduced as a result of climate cycles and other factors • Potential disease outbreaks could have a devastating effect due to small population size and limited geographic range Due to low juvenile survival and an aging, breeding female population, there will not be sufficient replacement of breeding females, and birth rates subsequently will decline. This underscores the irony of past and current efforts to reduce these threats in that initial success may only slow a process of decline and even more actions will be required to reverse the decline and prevent the extinction of this species. Recovery of the Hawaiian monk seal depends upon a range of comprehensive actions detailed in this Recovery Plan, as well as the full participation and support of all federal, state and private stakeholders. These actions should be pursued aggressively to prevent the extinction of this species, and funding decisions should give highest priority to actions that will contribute directly to mitigating impacts and sources of mortality that reduce survival rates of Hawaiian monk seals, particularly females and juveniles. In order to preserve the future reproductive potential for recovery, one of the highest priorities being pursued by NMFS is the development of
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