(SitNews - Ketchikan, Alaska) - Proposed changes to fishing restrictions in the Aleutian Islands are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered western population of Steller sea lions or adversely modify Steller sea lion critical habitat, according to a biological opinion issued Wednesday by NOAA Fisheries under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency estimates that the proposed fishery management changes would relieve roughly two-thirds of the economic burden imposed on Aleutian Islands' fishermen by sea lion protection measures that took effect in 2011. Fishermen could see new regulations in place by January 2015.

"Finding a way to protect endangered sea lions while minimizing costs to the fishing industry is a real challenge," said Jim Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries Alaska regional administrator. "I applaud the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and stakeholders for recommending a new suite of measures that effectively balances those two objectives."

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) responded to the news by saying, “It is critical that policies that do concrete and immediate economic harm to Alaskans be based on science and rigorous analysis, and I would like to thank NOAA for listening to the Center of Independent Experts in issuing the new biological opinion.  This means increased fishing opportunities in the Aleutian Islands in 2015 and the end of restrictions that resulted in tens of millions of dollars per year in economic harm to fisherman and Alaska’s coastal communities.”

“[Wednesday’s] announcement is a victory for good science and common sense,” said U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK). “We need practical steps to protect sea lions but not look for scapegoats.”

The agency's last biological opinion on the effects of fisheries, issued in 2010, found that the ongoing groundfish fisheries in the western and central Aleutian Islands were likely to jeopardize the continued existence of Steller sea lions and adversely modify their critical habitat. This led NOAA Fisheries to develop a "Reasonable and Prudent Alternative" under the ESA, which closed the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in the western Aleutians in 2011, and further restricted these fisheries in the central Aleutians.

This earlier biological opinion resulted in widespread closures of fishing grounds in the Western Aleutians.  These closures are estimated to have cost the fishing industry tens of millions of dollars over the past four years, some say much more.

The biological opinion was also widely criticized by fishermen, the states of Alaska and Washington, and in independent peer reviews by the Center for Independent Experts.   Those independent reviews found no scientific support for theories that fisheries jeopardize Steller sea lions through competition for prey, a situation that has been linked to chronic nutritional stress and reduced birth rates.

“Fishermen said populations of mackerel, cod and other prey species in the western Aleutians were healthy and fishing couldn’t be the cause of the decline of sea lions.  The independent peer reviews confirmed what Alaska fishermen knew all along,” Begich said.  “I pushed NOAA to include the comments of fishermen, the states and the independent peer reviews during their final review of this BiOp and welcome their final decision today.” 

“I’m pleased they have announced their decision, after the Senators and I told them, that there is no challenge by the fishermen to the Steller Sea Lion, rather from predation from the Orca and Sleeper Shark; which has caused the damage,” Congressman Don Young (R-AK) said. “This is good news. We may get a lot of our fisherman and a lot of our villages back in the taking of fish from the Western Aleutians, and to me I’m excited about that. This goes to show you that the government doesn’t know everything and I’m glad we were able to have some input on the decision.”

The 2010 opinion underwent two external reviews - one commissioned by NOAA and undertaken by the Center for Independent Experts, and a second provided by the states of Alaska and Washington. NOAA Fisheries conducted several new analyses in response to the reviews, which are incorporated into the new 2014 opinion.

The new biological opinion was developed based on the best available scientific information and notes that considerable changes have occurred in the Aleutian Islands fisheries, coupled with new data and analyses that help give the agency a better picture of the potential for commercial fisheries to compete with sea lions for Pacific cod, Atka mackerel and pollock.

Beginning in 2014, NOAA and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council split the total allowable catch for Pacific cod between the Bering Sea fishing grounds and the Aleutian Islands, resulting in far less allowable Pacific cod harvest in the Aleutians. Additional changes that are being considered would limit the amount, timing and location of Atka mackerel, Pacific cod and pollock harvests inside Steller sea lion critical habitat in the Aleutians.

According to a news release, NOAA Fisheries remains concerned that large fishery harvests from important areas in the Aleutians over a short amount of time has the potential to deplete concentrations of fish that Steller sea lions depend upon. However, the proposed measures would limit and spread out the catch enough to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, and are consistent with NOAA Fisheries' views on dispersing the harvest in space and time to avoid localized depletion of fish that are prey species for Steller sea lions.

NOAA Fisheries is completing an environmental impact statement on the new fishery management measures, and expects to implement the new regulations in January 2015.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News: 

NOAA Fisheries - Alaska Region
alaskafisheries.noaa.gov or
www.afsc.noaa.gov

Office of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Office of U.S. Senator Mark Begich
www.begich.senate.gov

Office of U.S. Rep. Don Young
www.donyoung.house.gov

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