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National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Regional Office

Harbor Seals

Independent Reviews of the Analysis of Population Genetic Structure in Alaskan Harbor Seals

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NOAA Fisheries and the Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission, through their joint Harbor Seal Co-management Committee, coordinated the following independent scientific peer review of: "The analysis of population genetic structure in Alaskan harbor seals, Phoca vitulina", as a framework for the identification of management stocks.
  • The analysis of population genetic structure in Alaskan harbor seals, Phoca vitulina, as a framework for the identification of management stocks (5MB), O'Corry-Crowe, G. M., K. K. Martien, and B. L. Taylor, 2003. Administrative Report LJ-03-08. Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037.
  • American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) Review Final Report (8.4 MB). The complete text of 3 panel and 2 anonymous reviews, with a summary by American Institute of Biological Sciences, Scientific Peer Advisory and Review Service.
  • Additional AIBS Review Documents
    • Background Reference 1.The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA; specifically Sections 2 [findings and declaration of policy], 3(11) [definition of population stock], and 117 [stock assessments]).
    • Background Reference 2. Taylor, B.L. 1997. Defining “populations” to meet management objectives for marine mammals. pp. 49-65 in Molecular Genetics of Marine Mammals (A.E. Dizon, S.J. Chivers, and W.F. Perrin, eds.) Special Publication 3. Society of Marine Mammalogy, Lawrence, Kansas.
    • Background Reference 3. NMFS' guidelines for identifying population stocks (Wade, P.R., and R.A. Angliss. 1997. Report of the GAMMS Workshop, April 3-5, Seattle, Washington. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-12. National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, MD.69 pp.).
    • Background Reference 4. ANHSC and NMFS.1999.Agreement between the Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service, for conservation and management of harbor seals. 12 pp.
    • Background Reference 5. Westlake, R. L., and G.M. O'Corry-Crowe. 2002. Macrogeographic structure and patterns of genetic diversity in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from Alaska to Japan. Journal of Mammalogy 83(4): 1111-1126.
    • Background Reference 6. Martien, K. K., and B. L. Taylor. 2003. Limitations of hypothesis-testing in defining management units for continuously distributed species. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5(3): 213-218.
    • Background Reference 7. Taylor, B. L. 2003. Determining Units to Conserve. Unpublished manuscript presented at the Marine Mammal Commission Workshop on Future Directions in Marine Mammal Research, August, 2003, Portland, OR.
    • Background Reference 8. Martien, K.K., A.B. Sellas, P.E. Rosel, B. Taylor, and R.S. Wells. In prep. A new approach to using genetic data to define management units for Gulf of Mexico bottlenose dolphins.

Another independent scientific peer review of the report on genetic structure in harbor seal populations was undertaken by the NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the authors of the Administrative Report, and conducted by the Center for Independent Experts (CIE):

Center for Independent Experts (CIE) Reviews Responses to CIE Reviews


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