Contact: Scott Smullen                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                        4/30/97

Based on biological information collected since the Steller sea lion was listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act in 1990, the National Marine Fisheries Service is reclassifying a population of Steller sea lions found in most of Alaska as "endangered," the agency announced today.

The fisheries service will classify Steller sea lions in two distinct populations separated at a line near Cape Suckling, Alaska (144 degrees west longitude), with the western population classified as endangered and the eastern population (southeastern Alaska to California) remaining classified as threatened.

The reclassification is necessary because the number of Stellers in the western population has continued to decline since the 1990 classification of threatened. For instance, since 1994, the number of juvenile and adult Stellers has dropped by 18 percent in the Gulf of Alaska population alone. Pup counts at Alaska's largest rookeries fell by 40 percent between 1991-1994. Using current population models, fisheries service biologists predict there is nearly a 100 percent chance the western Steller sea lion population will be extinct in the next 65 to 100 years.

"Based on the best available scientific and commercial information available from independent groups and within the agency, reclassifying the western Steller sea lion as endangered is the right move," said Rollie Schmitten, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service. "Not only does the reclassification more accurately reflect the status of the western Steller population, but we will be able to protect and conserve the species more effectively by managing the two populations through individual population trends without losing sight of the overall trend for the species."

"Given our current knowledge of prey availability, competition for food, and the effects of human disturbance, it would be difficult to identify whether any further management actions are needed beyond those already in place," added Schmitten.

Commercial fishing operations in the western population area that are likely to affect Steller sea lions may have to reconsult with the fisheries service under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. However, the fisheries service believes it is premature to propose additions or changes to the Steller sea lion protective measures.

"Fishing in the western population area will continue under the current management measures as we develop and conduct experiments to reexamine how Stellers may interact with these fishing operations. Once we better determine the entire scope of the interaction, we will better know if any additional management actions are required to reduce impacts to Stellers," said Schmitten.

To improve scientific and management data, the agency is organizing a workshop of outside experts in the coming year to design an experiment for assessing how well fishing area closure zones will benefit Steller sea lions without unnecessarily restricting the commercial fishing fleet. The agency will also prepare updated stock assessments that reexamine the estimated mortality rates incidental to commercial fisheries, and consider the next steps, if necessary, toward take reduction. In addition, the fisheries service will review the ongoing Steller sea lion program and look at developing an action plan for future research and management directions.

At the time of the original listing, the fisheries service had insufficient information available to consider animals in different geographic regions as separate populations. However, subsequent data analyses using Steller sea lion population dynamics, data from tagging, branding, and radio-telemetry studies, phenotypic data, and genetics have enabled the agency to delineate two discrete population segments of Steller sea lions within their geographic range.

Since 1990, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Canadian and Russian governments have continued to assess the Steller sea lion populations and to study the causes of the decline. Results of 1990-1994 surveys to monitor abundance trends indicate that the number of adults and juveniles continues to decline in Alaska. The Alaska Steller sea lion population fell by 60 percent from 157,000 juveniles and adults in the 1970s to less than 69,100 in 1989. The entire Steller sea lion population in the United States has declined 24 percent to 52,200 animals since 1989.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency charged with managing and scientifically monitoring marine life. NOAA is an agency of the Commerce Department.