Marine Protected Species: Serving warm, fuzzy, and cute since 1972

Dr. Jason TurnerDepartment of Marine Science, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo

Marine Protected Species: Serving warm, fuzzy, and cute since 1972

1. Who are protected

2. Pertinent Legislation

3. U.S. vs. International Protection

4. History of Protection

5. Case studies/Future implications

Who are Marine Protected Species?

Who are U.S. Marine Protected Species?

1. All Marine MammalsWhales, dolphins, porpoises, seals,

sea lions, walrus, manatees, sea otters, polar bears

2. Sea TurtlesGreen, Hawksbill, Leatherback,

Loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley, Olive Ridley

Who are U.S. Marine Protected Species?

3. Fishes - SalmonCoho, Sockeye, Chum, Chinook, Atlantic

4. InvertebratesElkhorn & Staghorn Coral, White Abalone

Protected Species Legislation

1. Marine Mammal Protection Act - 1972

2. Endangered Species Act - 1973

3. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) - 1975

Marine Mammal Protection Act

Prohibits, with certain exceptions, the take of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S. - Since 1972

Definitions Take: to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture or kill any marine mammal. Harassment: any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance

Marine Mammal Protection Act

All Marine Mammals within U.S. watersWhales, dolphins, porpoises, seals,

sea lions, walrus, manatees, sea otters, polar bears

What are U.S. waters?

Exclusive Economic ZoneLaw of the Sea treaty– established 200-mile-wide EEZs – granting coastal nations exclusive rights with respect to natural resources

Protected Species Legislation

1. Marine Mammal Protection Act - 1972

2. Endangered Species Act - 1973

3. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) - 1975

Endangered Species Act

Purpose: Recovery of endangered and threatened species

USFWS (Fish & Wildlife) & NOAA (Fisheries)ID & Publish list of threatened or endangered

spp

Species given full legal protection = no “take”

Federal gov’t prohibited harming species or habitatRecovery plan

Includes “critical habitat”

Endangered is the classification provided to an animal or plant in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Threatened is the classification provided to an animal or plant likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Critical Habitat are "all areas essential to the conservation" of the target species; the original ESA of 1973 allowed the FWS and NOAA Fisheries to designate specific areas as protected "critical habitat" zones

What is Endangered?

Who is listed?

Who is listed?

How are they listed?A species can be listed in two ways:

1) FWS or NOAA Fisheries to take the initiative and directly list the species

2) Via individual or organizational petition which prompts FWS or NMFS to conduct a scientific review

Has the listing process changed?

Has the listing process changed?Listings by year (under different administrations)

Ford (47 listings, 15 per year)Carter (126 listings, 32 per year)Reagan (255 listings, 32 per year)George H. W. Bush (231 listings, 58 per year) Clinton (521 listings, 65 per year) George W. Bush (60 listings, 8 per year) as of 5/24/08)

Recent administration has proposed more listing power to Agencies, reduced roles of citizens and independent scientists

Is there International Protection?

Protected Species Legislation

1. Marine Mammal Protection Act - 1972

2. Endangered Species Act - 1973

3. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) - 1975

CITES

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between Governments

Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival

CITESWorks by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls

All import, export, re-export and introduction from the sea of species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system

IUCNInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) - an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation

IUCN brings together 83 states, 108 government agencies, 766 Non-governmental organizations and 81 international organizations and about 10,000 experts and scientists from countries around the world

IUCNMission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable

Since 1963 has produced the IUCN Red List - world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species

IUCN

IWC

International Whaling Commission (IWC) - an international body set up (1946) to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry“

1970’s - dominated by governments opposed to commercial whaling

1986 – Moratorium in commercial whaling for its members

Whale Wars“The Society's fight to eradicate Japanese whaling on the high seas — where international laws are interpreted by different countries and organizations in different ways —”

Whale WarsSea Shephard says that Japan is “Violating an International Ban on Whaling” by conducting Scientific Whaling

Japanese Whalers say they are legally whaling

Who is Right?

Scientific WhalingMoratorium applies only to commercial whaling

Whaling under the scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence provisions of the IWC is still allowed in Norway, Iceland, Japan

Scientific WhalingAre Norway, Iceland & Japan getting a fair shake?

Japan has issued scientific permits every year in recent years. In the current year, permits are for the JARPA II programme (850±10% Antarctic minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales) and the JARPN II programme (340 minke, 50 Bryde's, 100 sei and 10 sperm whales)

ARTICLE VIII, Para 2“Any whales taken under these special permits shall so far as practicable be processed and the proceeds shall be dealt with in accordance with directions issued by the Government by which the permit was granted”

Scientific Whaling

Which means…

Under the IWC permits Japan is allowed to take certain whales and based upon

Article VIII, Para 2 – are required to process whale that is taken with permit

http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/permits.htm

Scientific Whaling

Scientific Whaling

Scientific Whaling

Scientific Whaling

Aboriginal Subsistence WhalingBering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas stock of bowhead whales (taken by native people of Alaska and Chukotka) - A total of up to 280 bowhead whales can be landed in the period 2008 - 2012, with no more than 67 whales struck in any year (and up to 15 unused strikes may be carried over each year).

Eastern North Pacific gray whales (taken by native people of Chukotka and Washington State ) - A total catch of 620 whales is allowed for the years 2008 - 2012 with a maximum of 140 in any one year.

IWCRegulations

Moratorium on Whaling (1986)

Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary (1994) – 11.8 million sq mile sanctuary

Scientific Whaling

No “teeth”

To Protect or not to ProtectCritical issues:

Who we protect?

How we protect?

Why we protect?

Seals and Sealing

Seals and SealingNative Americans & Native Canadians > 4,000 years

Northwest Europe & Baltic Sea > 10,000 years

Seals and SealingSeal coats prized for both their beauty & warmth

Seal oil used as lamp fuel, lubricating and cooking oil, processing leather and jute, & constituent of soap

Meat was an important source of protein, vitamin A and iron

Seals and Sealing

Seals basking on the ice in the spring sun were stalked in a sealskin covered kayak and killed with clubs

Techniques – Spring/Summer hunt

Walrus baculum

Seals and SealingTechniques – Winter hunt

Standing at a seal's breathing hole waiting for hours for a seal to come up for air

Seals and Sealing Modern Native technique – harpoon replaced with rifle; kayak with motorboat

Seal killing for commercial purposes - 1515

Became more prevalent in the late 1700s

Seals began to be exploited by whalers

Commercial Sealing

Modern Sealing

Harp seals in Canada are culled due to their hypothesized impact on cod stocks

250,000-350,000 harp seals are killed every year

Harp seals do eat Atlantic cod, although 40 years of studies indicate that Atlantic cod is a minor constituent of their diet

Why Modern Sealing?

Why Modern Sealing?

Did harp seals cause the collapse of cod stocks in the late 1980s, early 1990s?...No.

The scientific evidence indicates that stock collapse was caused by over-fishing

Then why continue – what are we (they) doing with 250,000-350,000 seals

Why Modern Sealing?Three-year harp seal quota - 975,000 animalsIn 2006: 325,000 harp seals

10,000 hooded seals 10,400 grey seals 10,000 seals for Aboriginal hunting

While many countries have banned the importation of seal products, the Canadian industry brought in about $16.5 million last year

What’s the Problem?

Steller Sea Lion Rookery1969 1987

How Safe is Your Dolphin?

Purse SeiningRate of incidentally caught dolphins in the

Pacific tuna purse seine fishery in the 60’s and 70’s sparked the tuna-dolphin debate and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

However, 6 million dolphins killed since 1959

Marine Mammal Protection Act& Magnuson-Stevens

Purse SeiningThree methods of purse seining for

tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific:On Log, On School, On Dolphin

Between the 1950’s and 1970’s, 100% of purse seiners in the Eastern Tropical Pacific utilized Dolphin sets

Since that time, effort placed upon moving the fishery towards Log and School sets

Marine Mammal Protection Act& Magnuson-Stevens

Purse Seining

# 16

Utilizes a Floating Aggregation Device

(FAD)Encircles All

Encircles School Encircles School & Pod

Who’s Seining WhoAlthough they are most detrimental to marine mammals, “Dolphin sets” overwhelmingly produces the least amount of bycatch and the greatest amount of large, adult tunas

Bycatch taxa Log sets School sets Dolphin sets

Dolphins 6 11 4,521

Turtles 232 100 64

Billfishes 4,121 1,708 894

Sharks and rays 105,632 30,258 7,760

Large pelagic fishes

2,611,312 202,159 2,608

Triggerfishes 1,735,960 11,714 1,474

Other fishes 2,651,856 169,842 73,414

1993-1996 total data N= 10,000 sets per type

Hug This!

The Problem:- easy to conduct, produce high bycatch numbers (tens of

millions) and yield young (5-15 lb) tuna

- difficult to conduct; require spotting schools independent of dolphin pods. Utilize juvenile tuna (10-25 lb) not yet associated with dolphins

– focus upon adult (>70 lb) fish with little associated bycatch numbers

Hug This!

: Possible paradigm shift from the conservation of a single species toward the protection of entire ecosystems/ trophic communities??? or

To Protect or not to ProtectWhy - Serving warm, cute, and fuzzy

Protected: Not Protected:

All marine mammals Any SharksAll sea turtles Any Billfishes

Relatively few: plants insects other inverts

To Protect or not to Protect

To Protect or not to ProtectHow – Species, Ecosystem, Trophic role

everything

Sea turtles – protected because numbers were reduced by man’s influence

When numbers rebound they would become de-listed

To Protect or not to ProtectWould de-listing of sea turtles ever happen?

To Protect or not to ProtectWould de-listing of sea turtles ever happen?

To Protect or not to ProtectHow: We list marine mammals because of their taxonomy, not their population status

To Protect or not to ProtectIf based upon population status, only a relative few marine mammals would be protected

Why we protect?

Why we protect?

Why we protect?

Why we protect?

Why we protect?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Global Warming Threats?

December 2006: USFWS proposes listing Polar Bears as “Threatened” due to melting pack ice

12 month study process

Critical habitat issues

Would not affect Native Alaskan subsistence hunting

What’s the Catch?

On May 14, 2008, the United States Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act

Did not designate critical habitat citing Alaskan Subsistence hunting, etc.

Also – listing is based upon climate change

What’s the Catch?

If we provide Critical Habitat to polar bears based upon climate change we are:

1) Formally acknowledging that we are a cause of global warming

2) Are responsible for reversing this trend (i.e. – changing emissions policy, etc)

Global Warming Threats?