Saving Seafood

Recent Increase in Seal Deaths in Maine Linked to Avian Flu

July 3, 2022-Beginning in June 2022, Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME)—a NOAA Fisheries authorized marine mammal stranding network partner—has responded to an elevated number of stranded seals. Most of the seals were found dead. On July 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s  Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed that samples from four stranded seals in Maine have tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1. All of these animals had recently died or required euthanasia. USDA is notifying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state animal and public health officials. The finding will be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health.

NOAA Fisheries has established a coordinated response structure with MMoME, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, and state and federal partners to manage this event. The response team is currently meeting on a daily basis to share information, support response logistics, and develop accurate public communications. This webpage will be updated on a regular basis as new information becomes available

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries Designates Critical Habitat for Ringed and Bearded Seals in U.S. Arctic

April 1, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries is designating critical habitat in U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population segment (DPS) of bearded seals. Both species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The ESA requires that NOAA Fisheries designate critical habitat for listed species in areas within the jurisdiction of the United States.

Critical habitat identifies geographic areas that contain features essential to the conservation of a listed species.

For each species, the critical habitat area includes marine waters of the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. The critical habitat boundaries differ between the two species, reflecting differences in where the essential habitat features for each species are found. For each of the designations, the geographic extent of the critical habitat is discussed in detail in the final rule and is depicted on a map.

The final rule to designate critical habitat for Arctic ringed seals excludes an area of the Beaufort Sea used by the Navy for training and testing activities, based on national security impacts.

NOAA Fisheries considered public comments on the proposed designation, and used the best scientific data available, including independent peer review. Before designating critical habitat, we gave careful consideration to potential economic, national security, and other relevant factors.

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

Surfrider Foundation launches project to reduce plastic pollution and protect Hawaiian monk seals

August 31, 2021 — The Surfrider Foundation’s Hawaii chapters are launching the North Pacific Hagfish Trap Project to reduce the number of hagfish traps washing up on the coastlines of Hawaii.

Hagfish traps are used to catch a primitive, eel-like animal known as “slime eels” or “hagfish.” The animals are sold almost exclusively to Korean markets for food or use in “eel skin” products such as wallets and boots.

Lost and discarded fishing gear is a primary contributor to plastic pollution on Hawaii beaches and poses a major threat to marine and coastal ecosystems. Yet given its international scope, large geographical range, and difficulties in tracing the source of gear, derelict fishing gear remains a challenging problem. Hagfish traps represent one of the many types of commercial fishing gear that pollute Hawaii coastlines.

In the last twenty years, 13 seal pups and one yearling have been found entangled by hagfish traps in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Read the full story at KITV

A How-To Guide for Reporting Potential Marine Wildlife Harassment in Hawai‘i

August 13, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Imagine you’re scrolling through social media and a video pops up of a Hawaiian monk seal resting on the beach. The first few seconds of video capture the natural beauty of the wild seal, peacefully slumbering on the sand. But suddenly, someone appears from the side of the frame and starts to mischievously tiptoe toward the sleeping seal. You shout through the screen and try to stop this person from what is inevitably going to happen. But despite your efforts, another one of our Hawaiian monk seals is touched and disturbed.

Reports of people disturbing protected marine wildlife have significantly increased over the last decade. And over the past few years, multiple incidents involving potentially illegal encounters with protected marine species have gone viral on social media, including two recent videos of people touching and disturbing monk seals. These concerning and disrespectful images and videos have, understandably, upset many people in Hawaiʻi and across the country. Incidents like these should be reported to NOAA Fisheries or the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Here’s what you need to know about reporting potentially illegal marine wildlife interactions, how NOAA responds to reports, and what the laws are regarding protected marine wildlife.

Read the full release here

Education, conservation, key for Hawaiian monk seal

August 12, 2021 — With fewer than 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals left on earth, and an estimated 10 to 15 that frequent Maui, education and conservation efforts for these endangered animals is all the more important.

Hawaii’s monk seals, or at least one monk seal, garnered lots of attention recently when a tourist was seen on social media touching an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on Kauai.

Touching, harassing, capturing, injuring or killing monk seals is considered a class C felony with the penalty of imprisonment or fines.

“These animals are among the most endangered seals on earth,” said Anne Rillero, communications manager for the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council which hosted a virtual presentation last week called “Saving a Species: Rehabilitation as a Conservation Tool for Hawaiian Monk Seals.”

Rillero in a news release about the presentation added that “public education is needed to help protect our Hawaiian monk seals from harassment or injury.”

Human interaction and harassment are some of the top threats for the species, said Lauren Van Heukelem, the response and operations coordinator at the Marine Mammal Center-Ke Ka Ola rehabilitation hospital on Hawaii island.

During the virtual presentation, Van Heukelem added that other top threats include fishery interaction, entanglement in trash and intentional killings.

Read the full story at The Maui News

On an Alaskan island, a mayor fights for fur seals – and a new future

July 13, 2021 — Fifty years ago, Patrick Pletnikoff spent his summers stripping blubber from the carcasses of seals clubbed to death in Alaska’s annual harvest, competing with other young men to show who wielded the fastest blade.

Now he’s fighting for a bigger prize: to transform his native St. George Island’s fortunes and protect dwindling colonies of northern fur seals by creating Alaska’s first marine sanctuary in the surrounding waters – a move that would empower local people to limit fishing for the seals’ prey.

Commercial sealing was once the lifeblood of St. George, a treeless speck of volcanic rock far from the U.S. mainland. But the indigenous Unangan community has struggled to find a new niche in the decades since the trade was banned, and there are now less than 60 inhabitants left.

As the long-serving mayor, Pletnikoff has spent years lobbying the federal government to add St. George to the network of 15 U.S. marine sanctuaries, hoping that a designation will kick-start a new “conservation economy” based on eco-tourism, scientific research and sustainable fishing.

Read the full story at Reuters

Study seeks origins of ghost nets that haunt Hawaii’s shores

May 27, 2021 — Ghost nets” from unknown origins drift among the Pacific’s currents, threatening sea creatures and littering shorelines with the entangled remains of what they kill.

Lost or discarded at sea, sometimes decades ago, this fishing gear continues to wreak havoc on marine life and coral reefs in Hawaii.

Now, researchers are doing detective work to trace this harmful debris back to fisheries and manufacturers — and that takes extensive, in-depth analysis on tons of ghost nets.

The biggest concern is that derelict gear keeps killing fish and other wildlife such as endangered Hawaiian monk seals, seabirds and turtles long after it’s gone adrift, said Drew McWhirter, a graduate student at Hawaii Pacific University and one of the study’s lead researchers.

“These nets bulldoze over our reefs before they hit shore,” McWhirter added. “They leave a path of destruction, pulling coral heads out, and can cause a lot of ecological damage.”

Ghost nets foul oceans throughout the world, but the Hawaiian Islands — with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the east and another gyre of floating trash to the west — are an epicenter for marine waste.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

Hawaiian Monk Seals Join the Animal Telemetry Network

May 6, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For more than two decades, NOAA has been tracking monk seals throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago as part of their larger effort to study and protect this endangered seal. And now you can see all of those tracks online! We have shared our entire archive of satellite telemetry locations through the Animal Telemetry Network. The public can view maps of seal travels and access data using this web portal. NOAA’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program is looking forward to the collaborative research opportunities this opens up.

Hawaiian Monk Seals Tracked for Many Purposes

  • Research projects include learning about seal space use, travel distances, energy expenditure, habitat use, and foraging behaviors
  • Monitoring efforts include tracking seal survival and movement patterns after an intervention such as a veterinary surgery or rehabilitation
  • Management concerns include seals that may be translocated to avoid human-seal interactions or moved out of dangerous habitats

Studying how these animals use their environment is a crucial part of NOAA’s larger effort to understand the ecology of Hawaiian monk seals, identify and mitigate threats to survival, and work toward the recovery of this endangered species.

Read the full release here

Citizen Scientists Help Reveal Undetected Hawaiian Monk Seal Reproduction

April 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A group of NOAA scientists has published a new paper in Marine Mammal Science that improves their estimations of reproductive rates in Hawaiian monk seals. Sighting patterns reveal unobserved pupping events, which revises reproductive rate estimates for Hawaiian monk seals in the main Hawaiian Islands. They couldn’t have done it without the help of citizen scientists reporting monk seal sightings. NOAA relies on public reports to collect data on seals in the main Hawaiian Islands. It would be impossible to consistently survey all of the beaches along 750 miles of inhabited shoreline.

Hawaiian monk seals are among the world’s most endangered marine mammals, with only around 1,400 remaining. Most of the population (about 1,100 seals) inhabit the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The remainder (about 300 seals) live in the heavily populated main Hawaiian Islands. The monk seal has recently shown positive population trends in these islands. At the core of these encouraging data is the number of pups born each year.

Counting Pups

Hawaiian monk seals have pups throughout the year. NOAA sends teams of biologists to the Papahānaumokuākeakea Marine National Monument every year to count the monk seal population. And while the main Hawaiian Islands are densely populated with humans, monk seals often select secluded beaches for pupping. This makes it hard to know when and where to look, so it’s easy to miss some. And since we don’t always witness their birth, we don’t see or identify many of those seals until they are adults. That makes it difficult to estimate their age when they have pups of their own.

If we can improve how we measure maternal age and pup production, we can improve our estimate of the population’s reproductive rates. That enhances our ability to track population trends.

Citizen Scientists Make it Possible 

Unlike our work conducted from remote camps in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, it is not possible to routinely survey all beaches along more than 700 miles of coastline in the inhabited (main) Hawaiian Islands.  NOAA relies on public reports and volunteer citizen scientists to collect data on seals in the main Hawaiian Islands. Public reports and the contribution of volunteer citizen scientists allow our researchers to record many more pupping events on the main Hawaiian Islands. Our researchers were able to use these data in their study.

Public participation in monk seal monitoring vastly extends the coverage that agency biologists can accomplish alone. It also engages the community in stewardship of natural resources in Hawaiʻi. For example, with so many things shut down in 2020, NOAA biologists weren’t able to survey monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. However, our information flow in the main Hawaiian Islands remained strong thanks to citizen scientists.

You can add to our data set by reporting your own monk seals sightings to the state-wide hotline at (888) 256-9840! Keep in mind, there is no need to approach a monk seal to make a report—always keep a safe distance from wildlife.

Thanks to these efforts, the newly published research describes the reproductive cycle and estimates reproductive rates of female Hawaiian monk seals in the main Hawaiian Islands.

Read the full release here