Declines in Alaska’s Marinelife

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Commercial Fisheries Declines

• Bering Sea pollock stocks: (International) Donut Hole CLOSED 1993; Bogoslof Area CLOSED 1993 (NPFMC, 2004).
• Gulf of Alaska pollock female spawning biomass: DECLINED nearly 80% between 1982 and 2004 (NPFMC Appendix B, 2004).
• Gulf of Alaska Bairdi Tanner crab: Commercial fisheries were CLOSED in all Kodiak sections starting in 1994 (Ruccio, MP, 2003).
• Bristol Bay red king crab: Commercial fishery CLOSED 1994 and 1995; small fishery re-opened since habitat protection measures were established and the stock is showing modest recovery. Bristol Bay red king crab biomass was highest in 1980, declined and has remained relatively low since 1983. In 2004, abundance of legal and pre-recruit males increased by 10%, but that of mature females decreased by ca 9% (NPFMC Appendix C, 2004).
• Eastern Bering Sea Bairdi Tanner crab: Population was high in the early 1980's and from 1988-1992. The population has been low since then and currently continues to decrease due to low recruitment. The stock is considered OVERFISHED and the fishery has been closed since 1996. A small fishery will occur in 2005 under the terms of the rebuilding plan (NPFMC Appendix C, 2004).
• Opilio snow crab: Considered OVERFISHED 1999 to 2005. A small fishery will be allowed in 2005 under the terms of the rebuilding plan (NPFMC Appendix C, 2004).
• St. Matthew blue king crab: OVERFISHED 1999 to 2005. Population estimates for 2004 show continuous decline since 1998. Rebuilding plans are in place for all these crab stocks (NPFMC Appendix C, 2004).
• Kodiak Island red king crab: Commercial fishery CLOSED since 1984 (Funk, F. 2002).
• Kodiak Island Tanner crab: Commercial fishery CLOSED 1994/95 to 1999/2000. Fishery re-opened in 2001 (Ruccio, M.P. 2003. Fishery management plan for the commercial Tanner crab fishery in the Kodiak District of registration area J, 2004. ADF&G Regional Information Report No. 4K03-57, 30pp.).
• Kachemak Bay Tanner crab: Commercial fishery CLOSED in 1995 (Orensanz et al. 1998).
• Cook Inlet Tanner crab: Commercial fishery CLOSED in 1995 and 1996 (Orensanz et al. 1998).
• Cook Inlet shrimp: Commercial fishery CLOSED 1987 (Orensanz et al. 1998).
• Gulf of Alaska Groundfish (including Thornyhead rockfish and pollock): Biomass of major commercial groundfish species has undergone a statistically significant decrease between 1984 and 2002 (PICES, 2004).
• Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea Pacific Ocean perch: OVERFISHED in the 1960s by foreign trawlers (Figure 100 in PICES, 2004; NPFMC, 2004).
• Gulf of Alaska shrimp: DECLINING. Current populations remain well below long-term historic averages and most commercial fisheries remain CLOSED since mid-1980s (Funk, F. 2002).
• Gulf of Alaska Atka mackerel: CLOSED to directed fishing and managed as a bycatch-only fishery since 1997 (PSEIS, 2004).
• Rougheye Rockfish: DECLINED by 50-66% since 1980 (NPFMC, 2004).
• Greenland Turbot: DECLINED by 65-85% since the 1960's.
• Sablefish (black cod): At LOW LEVELS in all areas: Believed to be close to the minimum stock size threshold in the Western Gulf of Alaska and Bearing Sea/Aleutian Islands. Following 1988, sablefish abundance has decreased significantly, declining faster in the eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and western Gulf of Alaska and slower in the central and eastern Gulf of Alaska. (PSEIS 2004). Both age 4+ and spawning biomass estimates decrease slightly (2%) between 2003 and 2004 (NPFMC Appendix B, 2004).
• Prince William Sound Herring: Pre-fishery run biomass estimate peaked in 1989 and after 1993 the stock collapsed and remains low with levels less than half of the 1980-1992. Fishery is currently CLOSED and has been for 11 of the last 13 years (NPFMC Appendix C, 2004).
• North Pacific Groundfish Species: The official status of 83% of the 196 federally managed groundfish stocks is UNKNOWN. This means that scientists do not know if these stocks are declining, stable, or increasing (NPFMC Appendix C, 2004. pp 238).
• Declared Economic Fish Disasters: Declared by Governor Tony Knowles-Kuskokwim River Watershed 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002. Norton Sound Watershed 2000, 2001, 2002. Yukon River Watershed 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 (www.sba.gov/news/archieve00/00-76.html). Bristol Bay Watershed 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 (www.bbsalmon.som/finalreport.pdf).

Wildlife Declines

• Steller sea lions (adult and juvenile): The western stock (includes Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, western and central Gulf of Alaska) DECLINED by 82% between the late 1970s and 2002; since 1990s listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (Angliss and Lodge, 2004).
• Harbor seals: Populations in Glacier Bay (1992-1998 a 25 - 48% decline, and Prince William Sound 1984-1997 a 63% decline) continue the DECLINE that began in the late 1970s. On Tugidak Island southwest of Kodiak Island, there has been an 80% decline. The overall Gulf of Alaska stock size remains small compared to its size in the 1970-80s. Counts on the North side of the Alaska Peninsula have DECLINED 42% between 1975-1995 (Angliss and Lodge, 2004).
• Northern fur seals: 60% DECLINE since 1950s in the breeding population on Pribilof Islands; pup numbers declining steadily since 1970s (NMML 2004). During the breeding season, approximately 74% of the worldwide population of Northern fur seals are found on the Pribilof Islands. The 2003 count of adult male seals on St. George Island, however, was lower than any count during the past decade, and represents the lowest numbers observed since 1974. The number of adult males counted on St. Paul Island in 2003 remains slightly higher than was observed in 2000 and 2001, but represents a 29% decline since 1993. Commercial hunting of Pribilof Island fur seals began in the mid-late 1800s and the population reached a low of 216,000 seals in 1912. Northern fur seals were given protection to recover with the signing of the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 by Canada, Japan, Russia and the United States. The population recovered from extensive hunting to peak levels in the 1940's, followed by declines since the 1960's. The U.S. population status is depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Angliss and Lodge, 2004).
• Cook Inlet beluga: Designated as DEPLETED under the Marine Mammal Protection Act because the stock is currently below Optimum Sustainable Population level. This means that the whales are not reproducing at a rate or surviving to maintain their desired population level (Angliss and Lodge, 2004). Cook Inlet belugas are a small isolated stock that is geographically and genetically segregated from the other four stocks of belugas found in Alaskan waters (O'Corry-Crowe et al. 1997, Laidre et al. 2000). This stock is especially vulnerable to impacts from hunting or environmental changes (Mahoney and Shelden 2000, Moore et al. 2000). From 1994-98, abundance estimates decreased 50% from 653 to 347. In 1998, hunting stopped and recent abundance estimates are stabilizing: 1999- 367, 2000 - 435, 2001 - 389. (Hobbs et al. 2000). This information is available at: http://nmml.afsc.noaa.gov/CetaceanAssessment/BelugaWhale.html
• Bowhead whale: Western Arctic stock listed as ENDANGERED under the Endangered Species Act (Angliss, R.P. and K.L. Lodge, 2004).
• Sperm whale: North Pacific stock: Listed as ENDANGERED under the Endangered Species Act (Angliss, R.P. and K.L. Lodge, 2004).
• Humpback whale: Western and Central North Pacific listed as ENDANGERED under the Endangered Species Act (Angliss, R.P. and K.L. Lodge, 2004).
• Fin whale: Northern Pacific stock listed as ENDANGERED under the Endangered Species Act (Angliss, R.P. and K.L. Lodge, 2004).
• Northern Right whale: Eastern North Pacific stock listed as ENDANGERED under the Endangered Species Act (Angliss, R.P. and K.L. Lodge, 2004).
• Sea otters: Sea otter populations in southwest Alaska, which once contained more than half of the world's sea otters, has DECLINED by 90% at one island and an average of 58% throughout the Aleutian Islands (Estes et al. 1998). USFWS is proposing to list them under the Endangered Species Act (USF&WS news release, 2004).
• Polar Bears: The status of the Chukchi Sea/Bering Sea polar bear stock is UNCERTAIN due to lack of reliable population information (USFWS, 2002). The most recent analysis confirms that the Southern Beaufort Sea stock experienced growth during the late 1970s and 1980s, then stabilized and experienced little or no growth during the 1990s (Amstrup, S.C., T.L. McDonald, and I. Stirling. 2001). Sea ice, essential habitat for Polar bears, is declining in extent, thickness and duration as the Arctic rapidly warms due to greenhouse gasses (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Report, 2004). Therefore, both populations will likely soon be declining.
• Common and thick-billed murres: DECLINED in the Pribilof Islands between 1976 and 1999 by about 65% and 40% respectively (Dragoo et al. 2004).
• Black-legged kittiwakes: DECLINED more than 68% on both Pribilof Islands and 80% on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska (Dragoo et al. 2004).
• Red-legged kittiwakes: Colonies in the Pribilof Islands - DECLINED 7% on St. Paul, DECLINED 8% on St. George. Bering Sea and Aleutian Island populations DECLINED more than 50% where most of the breeding population for the region is located (Dragoo et al. 2004). Red Legged Kittiwakes were designated Bird of Conservation Concern 2002 because 80% of its worldwide population nests in only one colony, St. George Island, and because its recent severe population decline has not been explained. It was recently assigned "vulnerable" status on World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species. (http://www.redlist.org/).
• Short-tailed albatross: By the 1950s considered one of world's rarest birds with populations at perilously low numbers and were declared ENDANGERED since 1970 (65 Federal Register 46643). Populations declined due to past hunting for their feathers and entanglement in fishing gear. Today the population is recovering, but is still endangered with approximately 1,000 birds (www.iphc.washington.edu/staff/tracee/shorttail.htm).
• Bering Sea Spectacled eiders: Listed in 1993 as THREATENED under the Endangered Species Act due to 96% DECLINE in breeding population in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and only about 4,000 pairs nest there today (http://alaska.fws.gov/media/SpecEider_FactSheet.htm; PSEIS, 2004).
• Steller's Eiders: The Alaska-breeding population was listed as THREATENED under Endangered Species Act in 1997 because of severe declines in the breeding population and range. There is no longer a breeding population in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2002b).
• Marbled Murrelets: Designated in 1995 as Bird of Conservation Concern because of documented or apparent population declines, small or restricted populations, or dependence on restricted or vulnerable habitats (US Fish and Wildlife Service 2002a). The marbled murrelet is listed as VULNERABLE under the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources criteria.
• Kittlitz Murrelets: On May 4, 2004 was listed as a candidate species under Endangered Species Act (See Federal Register: 69FR24876). An 84% DECLINE has occurred since 1989 in Prince William Sound. The Glacier Bay population has lost 75% of its population (Environmental News Service, 2004; National Park Service www.nps.gov/glba /pphtml/subanimals2.html).
• Black-footed albatross: Recently assigned VULNERABLE status on World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species because of reported declines in numbers on their breeding colonies (www.redlist.org/). This criterion is used for species that are deemed to have a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future (60 years). It also is listed as Bird of Conservation Concern (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2002a).
• Red-faced cormorant: Designated as a USFWS Bird of Conservation Concern in the Alaska Region because of apparent DECLINES at the one monitored colony in Chiniak Bay in the Gulf of Alaska (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2002a).
• Whiskered auklet: Designated as a USFWS Bird of Conservation Concern in the Alaska Region due to concerns over its localized breeding distribution on Buldir Island (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2002a).