MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION Annual Report to Congress 2005 Marine Mammal Commission 4340 East-West Highway, Room 905 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 15 July 2006 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 Marine Mammals Members of the Staff Lloyd F. Lowry, Chairman David Cottingham Fairbanks, Alaska Executive Director Daryl J. Boness, Ph.D. Timothy J. Ragen, Ph.D. University of Maine Scientific Program Director Hartford, Maine David W. Laist Policy and Program Analyst Frances M.D. Gulland, Vet. M.B., Ph.D. The Marine Mammal Center Michael L. Gosliner, Esq. Sausalito, California General Counsel John A. Hildebrand, Ph.D. Suzanne Montgomery Scripps Institution of Oceanography Special Assistant to the Executive Director La Jolla, California Jeannie K. Drevenak Sue Moore, Ph.D. Permit Officer University of Washington Seattle, Washington Michael Simpkins, Ph.D. Assistant Scientific Program Director Andrew J. Read, Ph.D. Duke University Marine Laboratory Elizabeth M. Taylor Beaufort, North Carolina Knauss SeaGrant Fellow Cathy Jones Randall R. Reeves, Ph.D. Administrative Officer Okapi Wildlife Associates Hudson, Quebec, Canada Darel E. Jordan Staff Assistant Ian Stirling, Ph.D. Canadian Wildlife Service Alyssa Campbell Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Staff Assistant Douglas Wartzok, Ph.D. Florida International University Commission Offices Miami, Florida 4340 East-West Highway, Room 905 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Phone: 301-504-0087 Special Advisor on Native Affairs Fax: 301-504-0099 Roswell L. Schaeffer, Sr. E-mail: [email protected] Kotzebue, Alaska Web site: http://www.mmc.gov Front cover: Photograph courtesy of R & C Buchanan, www.polarbearsinternational.org. Design by Raj Patel, North Potomac, Maryland. Contents List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………iii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………iv I. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 II. Special Focus—Alaska Marine Ecosystems……………………………………………3 Properties of Marine Ecosystems…………………………………………………3 Human Activities and Interactions with Marine Ecosystems………………………8 Partnerships to Promote Ecosystem Research and Management…………………15 Elements of an Ecosystem-Based Research and Management Strategy…………17 III. Issues of Concern to Alaska Natives……………………………………………………23 IV. Alaska Species of Special Concern……………………………………………………27 North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica)………………………………27 Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas)………………………………30 Killer Whale, AT1 Stock (Orcinus orca)…………………………………………39 Ice-Associated Seals……………………………………………………………40 Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina)……………………………………………………41 Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)……………………………………………42 Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus)…………………………………………48 Northern Sea Otter, Southwest Alaska Stock (Enhydra lutris kenyoni)…………49 Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)……………………………………………………50 V. Other Species of Special Concern……………………………………………………55 North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis)………………………………55 Southern Resident Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)…………………………………67 Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi)………………………………70 Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)………………………………81 California Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis)……………………………………90 Marine Mammal Species of Special Concern in Foreign and International Waters…………………………………………………………91 VI. Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response…………………………………103 Release Criteria for Rehabilitated Animals……………………………………103 Unusual Mortality Events………………………………………………………104 Prescott Grant Program…………………………………………………………107 VII. Marine Mammal/Fisheries Interactions……………………………………………109 Proposed Amendments to National Standard 1…………………………………109 Marine Mammal/Fisheries Interactions in Alaska………………………………112 Atlantic Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Team………………………………112 The Tuna/Dolphin Issue…………………………………………………………113 VIII. International Aspects of Marine Mammals…………………………………………121 International Whaling Commission……………………………………………121 United States–Russia Polar Bear Agreement……………………………………123 IX. Reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act………………………………………………………………127 Marine Mammal Protection Act………………………………………………127 Endangered Species Act………………………………………………………129 X. Permits and Authorizations to Take Marine Mammals……………………………131 Permit Application Review……………………………………………………131 General Authorizations…………………………………………………………133 Small-Take Authorizations……………………………………………………..133 Polar Bear Trophy Imports……………………………………………………140 Subsistence Whaling by the Makah Tribe………………………………………141 Interactions with Marine Mammals in the Wild………………………………142 XI. Special Projects………………………………………………………………………..149 Sound in the Oceans……………………………………………………………149 Ecological Impacts of Killer Whales in the North Pacific Ocean………………151 Assessment of the Status of Endangered Marine Mammals in U.S. Waters and the Cost-Effectiveness of Related Protection Programs……………………152 Future Directions in Marine Mammal Research………………………………155 XII. Research and Studies Program………………………………………………………157 Workshops and Planning Meetings……………………………………………157 Commission-Sponsored Research and Study Projects…………………………158 Appendix A. 2005 Marine Mammal Commission Recommendations and Agency Responses…………………………………………………………163 ii List of Tables Table 1. Reported Alaska Native subsistence take of Cook Inlet beluga whales, 1993–2005………………………………………………………………………34 Table 2. Counts of adult and juvenile (non-pup) Steller sea lions in the U.S. western stock at rookery and haul-out trend sites by region, 1975–2004……44 Table 3. Numbers of polar bears reported taken in Alaska Native harvests, 1980–2005………………………………………………………………………51 Table 4. Marine mammals listed as endangered (E) or threatened (T) under the Endangered Species Act or depleted (D) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, as of 31 December 2005………………………………………56 Table 5. Observed right whale entanglements, 2000–2005……………………………59 Table 6. Florida Manatee Recovery Team Task Forces and Working Groups…………82 Table 7. Known manatee mortality in the southeastern United States (excluding Puerto Rico) reported through the manatee salvage and necropsy program, 1978–2005……………………………………………………………83 Table 8. Estimated abundance and annual incidental take for marine mammals affected by the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery……………………………113 Table 9. Estimated incidental kill of dolphins in the tuna purse seine fishery in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, 1972–2005……………………………116 Table 10. Marine mammal species and populations in U.S. waters listed under the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the IUCN Red List……………………………………………………………153 iii List of Figures Figure 1. Alaska marine ecosystems………………………………………………………4 Figure 2. Southeast Alaska coastline locations at which tourism and coastal development projects have an effect on marine mammals……………………14 Figure 3. Sightings of North Pacific right whales in waters west of 160°W and east of 180°W from 1982 to 2002………………………………………………29 Figure 4. Cook Inlet area of Alaska………………………………………………………31 Figure 5. Abundance estimates (and upper and lower 95 percent confidence limits) of Cook Inlet beluga whales, 1994–2005………………………………………32 Figure 6. Steller sea lion range……………………………………………………………43 Figure 7. Known mortality of North Atlantic right whales, 1970–2005…………………57 Figure 8. North Atlantic right whale with a severed left fluke cut by the propeller of a 43-ft. private fishing vessel off Cumberland Island, Georgia, 10 March 2005…………………………………………………………………58 Figure 9. Designated critical habitats and mandatory ship reporting zones for North Atlantic right whales……………………………………………………61 Figure 10. The number and severity of injuries to whales caused by ships traveling at known speeds at the time of collisions………………………………………63 Figure 11. Southern resident killer whale abundance, 1960–2005………………………68 Figure 12. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands…………………………………………71 Figure 13. Combined total of mean beach counts of Hawaiian monk seals (excluding pups) at all six major pupping colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 1958–2005…………………………………………………71 Figure 14. The main Hawaiian Islands……………………………………………………72 Figure 15. Temporary seal protection zone and Hawaiian monk seal on a popular recreational beach on Kauai……………………………………………………73 Figure 16. French Frigate Shoals…………………………………………………………79 iv Figure 17. Florida manatee regional populations…………………………………………81 Figure 18. Natural and artificial warm-water refuges with at least one winter count of 50 or more Florida manatees……………………………………………………85 Figure 19. Distribution of sightings of western gray whales off the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island………………………………………………………………92 Figure 20. Map of the Sakhalin region showing the nine project areas…………………93 Figure 21. The Yangtze River and the semi-natural Shishou Reserve……………………95 Figure 22. The vaquita refuge area…………………………………………………………98 Figure 23. Number of U.S. and foreign vessel sets on dolphins, 1979–2005……………115 Figure 24. Distribution of Alaska stocks of polar bears…………………………………124 v Chapter I INTRODUCTION his is the 33rd Annual Report of the Marine Mammal Commission, covering the period 1 January through 31 December 2005. The purpose of the report is to provide timely informa- Ttion on management issues and events under the purview of the Marine Mammal Com- mission in 2005. The Commission submits its reports to Congress pursuant to section