NOAA Fisheries

Status of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Groundfish Fisheries Section 7 Consultation - 2010 Draft Biological Opinion

• Section 7 Consultation Initiation and Extension of Schedule
  • Steller Sea Lion Mitigation Committee: February 2006 - January 2008 meetings and documents
  • NMFS memorandum requesting reinitiation of Section 7 Consultation for Groundfish FMPs, April 2006
    • Biological Assessment of the Alaska Groundfish Fisheries and NMFS Managed Endangered Species Act Listed Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles, April 2006
  • NMFS memorandum initiating formal Section 7 Consultation for Groundfish FMPs, June 2006
  • NMFS memorandum responding to initiation and timeline of Section 7 Consultation for Groundfish FMPs, June 2006
  • NPFMC letter to NMFS regarding new data to include in Section 7 Consultation, April 2009
  • NMFS letter to NPFMC agreeing to inclusion of new survey data (see below) in the Section 7 Consultation and schedule extension, May 2009

• Information Relevant to the May 2009 NMFS Letter to NPFMC
  • 1. 2009 Steller sea lion pup counts (to be posted when field season is complete)
  • 2. Non-pup surveys in portions of southeast Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska (to be posted when field season is complete)
  • 3. Alaska Sea Life Center study: Evidence for high natality rates among Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska, 2009, Maniscalco, J. M., D. Hennen, P. Parker, Alaska SeaLife Center Tech. Rep. ASLC-0901, Seward, AK, 28 p.
    • Letter from Alaska Fisheries Science Center regarding review of Maniscalco et al., ASLC-0901, April 2009
      • Alaska Fisheries Science Center Review of Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) Technical Report ASLC-0901 "Evidence for high natality rates among Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska" (Maniscalco, Hennen and Parker), April 2009
      • Estimating Natality Rate of Steller Sea Lions at Chiswell Island Rookery, Alaska Devin S. Johnson National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
      • Review of "Evidence for high natality rates among Steller sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska", Eli Holmes, National Marine Fisheries Service, April 2009
      • Age-structured modeling reveals long-term declines in the natality of western Steller sea lions, 2007, NMML, Holmes, E. E., L. W. Fritz, A. E. York, and K. Sweeney, Journal of Applied Ecology, 17(8):2214-2232. (external link)
      • Using age structure to detect impacts on threatened populations: a case study with Steller sea lions, 2003, NMML, Holmes, E. E., and A. E. York, Conservation Biology, 17:1794-1806. (external link)

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