Even as the western population of Steller sea lions has crashed
precipitously over the last three decades—indicating a collapse
of the entire marine ecosystem located just east of Prince
William Sound in Alaska and expanding to Russia and Japan—the
National Marine Fisheries Service continues to allow massive
commercial fisheries to deplete the sea lion's primary food
source.
The statistics are startling. The western population of
Steller sea lions has declined by almost 90% since the 1970s, a
collapse that finally forced authorities in 1997 to list the
population as endangered under the Endangered Species Act
(ESA). The population had been listed as threatened since
1990.
Not coincidentally, there has been a tremendous growth in
intensive, high-volume trawling that targets the sea lion's
primary food source, groundfish such as pollock. By holding the
door open for the enormous expansion of commercial groundfish
fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has
been accused of repeatedly failing to honor its responsibility
to protect Steller sea lions and their habitat under the
ESA.
As a result, many believe that the Steller sea lion is,
literally, starving to death.
In recent years, conservation groups have taken the fight to
court to get NMFS to live up to its obligations under the ESA.
Most recently, a federal district court in Washington ruled
that the NMFS's fishing plan was illegal because it failed to
consider the impact that the fisheries had on sea lions and
their habitat. The ruling won't be the last word on the
subject.
Western Alaska
In 2000, the estimated Steller population in western Alaska
was a fraction of what it had been: 34,600 sea lions, down from
approximately 180,000 in the 1950s. The number of adults
declined at an average rate of almost 5% annually from 1989 to
2002. Since 1998, the number of pups counted has declined by
11.2%. Of particular concern is the status of Steller sea lions
in the western Aleutian Islands region, which saw a 39% decline
in pup counts from 1998 to 2002.
Contrast this decline in sea lions with the increase in
pollock catches. NMFS had permitted the annual pollock catch
from the Bering Sea to increase from less than 175,000 metric
tons in 1964 to almost 1.8 million metric tons by 1972. An
average of more than 1.2 million tons were taken from the
region during the 1990s.
Trawling for groundfish in that region is now worth an
estimated $1.2 billion annually. NMFS waited until January 2001
to release a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
examining the effects of groundfish fisheries on the marine
ecosystem, the first significant study of the situation in more
than two decades.
Legal Wrangling
In 1998, a lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice and Trustees
for Alaska on behalf of Greenpeace, American Oceans Campaign
(now Oceana), and the Sierra Club; the plaintiffs claimed that
NMFS was violating the ESA by failing to protect the Steller
sea lion from the ravages of overfishing. In both 1999 and
2000, U.S. district court rulings found NMFS to be negligent in
its management of the sea lions and other marine species.
Intensive legal, scientific, and public pressure resulted in
a court-ordered injunction on trawling in critical Steller
habitat in 2000. That year, NMFS announced a plan to close
two-thirds of critical Steller habitat to fishing for pollock,
Atka mackerel, and Pacific cod. But by the time NMFS's plan was
implemented, it had been weakened, apparently under pressure
from the commercial fishing industry. By mid-2001, even those
weakened protections were rolled back because of the political
intervention of Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens.
However, in December 2002 a federal district court in
Washington ruled that the fishing plan implemented by NMFS was
illegal because it failed adequately to consider the effects of
fishing on Steller sea lions and their habitat. The judge
ordered NMFS to provide better rationale and information on the
effects of fishing in critical habitat areas under the
2002-2003 fishery rules.
This was an important step in influencing NMFS to manage
fisheries with reasonable consideration for the health of the
ecosystem rather than simply for the profit of the commercial
fisheries. However, it has yet to be seen if NMFS will improve
its management policies.
What You Can Do
Write to NMFS Administrator William Hogarth and NMFS Alaska
Regional Director Jim Balsiger. Tell them that people are
paying attention to the way NMFS manages fisheries in Steller
habitat. Urge them to comply with the ESA and provide maximum
protection to the Steller sea lion's critical habitat and food
source.
Contact Information
James W. Balsiger
Alaska Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
P.O. Box 21668
Juneau, Alaska 99802-1668
William Hogarth
Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA
1315 East West Highway
SSMC3
Silver Spring, MD 20910
