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NOAA Fisheries
Office of Protected Resources
 Acropora palmata thicket on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Andy Bruckner, 1996Coho salmon painting, Canadian Dept of Fisheries and OceansMonk seal, C.E. BowlbyHumpback whale, Dr. Lou Herman
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Scientific Review Groups (SRGs)

Stock Assessment Program | Scientific Review Groups | Stock Assessment Reports

What are Scientific Review Groups?
Three regional Scientific Review Groups (SRGs) advise NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on the status of marine mammal stocks (under Section 117 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act) within three areas:

The SRGs advise NMFS and FWS on:

  • draft Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports before the reports are released for public comment
  • abundance estimates, status, and trends of marine mammal stocks
  • uncertainties in identifying stocks, assessing the status or trends of stocks, and evaluating factors affecting the distribution, abundance, or productivity of the stocks
  • research to address these uncertainties regarding marine mammals and to reduce incidental mortality of marine mammals incidental to fishing operations
  • issues related to habitats for marine mammals and the effects of natural or anthropogenic (human-caused) change to habitats
  • other issues that the groups or agencies deem appropriate

Minutes/Reports from Group Meetings

Joint SRG Meetings

Regional Meetings


Alaska Scientific Review Group

  bearded seal
Bearded Seal pup
(Erignathus barbatus)
Photo: NOAA

beluga whale
Beluga Whale
(Delphinapterus leucas)
Photo: NMFS National Marine Mammal Laboratory

ribbon seal
Ribbon Seal
(Histriophoca fasciata)
Photo: Captain Budd Christman, NOAA Corps

Ringed Seal
Ringed Seal
(Phoca hispida)
Photo: NOAA

Spotted Seal
Spotted Seal
(Phoca largha)
Photo: NOAA

Overview
The Alaska SRG advises NMFS and FWS on stocks of marine mammals that occur in waters off Alaska that are under the jurisdiction of the United States. These stocks include:

  • dolphins
  • porpoise
  • small and large whales
  • sea lions
  • seals
  • sea otters (FWS jurisdiction)
  • polar bears (FWS jurisdiction)
  • walrus (FWS jurisdiction)

Key conservation issues for marine mammals in Alaska include

  • "take" in commercial fisheries
  • loss of sea ice due to climate change
  • disturbance and habitat modification related to coastal development
  • entanglement in marine debris
  • take of marine mammals by Alaska Natives for subsistence and handicraft purposes

Members

  1. Lloyd Lowry, Chair
    Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Ret.); University of Alaska, Fairbanks
  2. Robert Suydam
    North Slope Borough
  3. Lance Barrett-Lennard
    University of British Columbia; Vancouver Aquarium
  4. Karl Haflinger
    Sea State, Inc.
  5. Beth Mathews
    University of Alaska Southeast
  6. George Noongwook
    Native Village of Savoonga
  7. Grey Pendleton
    Alaska Department of Fish and Game
  8. Jan Straley
    University of Alaska, Southeast
  9. Kate Wynn
    University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Alaska SRG Meeting Minutes and Correspondence

Atlantic Scientific Review Group (SRG)

 bottlenose
Bottlenose Dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus)
Photo: NOAA

humpback
Humpback Whale
(Megaptera novaeangliae)
Photo: NOAA

humpback
Humpback Whale
(Megaptera novaeangliae)
Photo: NOAA

short-finned pilot whale
Short-finned Pilot Whale
(Globicephala macrorhynchus)
Photo: NOAA

risso's dolphin
Risso's Dolphin
(Grampus griseus)
Photo: NOAA


Spinner Dolphin
(Grampus griseus)
Photo: NOAA

Overview
The Atlantic SRG advises NMFS and FWS on marine mammals along the Atlantic coast, Gulf Coast, and U.S. Territories in the Caribbean.

Marine mammals in this area include:

  • porpoise
  • dolphins
  • small and large whales
  • seals
  • manatees (FWS jurisdiction)

Key conservation issues for marine mammals in the Atlantic region include:

  • "take" incidental to commercial and recreational fisheries
  • disturbance and habitat modification related to human development and activities in all coastal areas
  • entanglement in marine debris
  • contaminants and pollution

Scientific advice on marine mammals in the Caribbean is inhibited by relatively little directed research and monitoring in the waters surrounding U.S. Territories.

Members

  1. Andrew Read, Chair, Duke University
  2. James Powell, Ph.D., Sea to Shore Alliance
  3. Michael Moore, Ph.D., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  4. Joe DeAlteris, University of Rhode Island
  5. James Gilbert, University of Maine
  6. Robert Kenney, University of Rhode Island
  7. John Lawson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
  8. Douglas Nowacek, Duke University
  9. Daniel Odell, Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute
  10. Richard Seagraves, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
  11. Randall Wells, Chicago Zoological Society; Mote Marine Laboratory
  12. Sharon Young, Human Society of the United States

Atlantic SRG Meeting Minutes and Correspondence


Pacific Scientific Review Group (SRG)

  Hawaiian Monk Seal
Hawaiian Monk Seal
(Monachus schauinslandi)
Photo: NMFS Pacific Islands
Fisheries Science Center


killer whale
Killer Whale
(Orcinus orca)
Photo: NOAA

Pacific White-Sided Dolphins
Pacific White-Sided Dolphin
(Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
Photo: NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Overview
The Pacific SRG advises NMFS and FWS on marine mammals in waters along the west coast of the United States, within waters surrounding the main and Northwest Hawaiian Islands, and within waters surrounding U.S. Territories in the Western Pacific.

Marine mammals in this area include:

  • seals
  • sea lions
  • porpoise
  • dolphins
  • small and large whales
  • sea otters, off the coasts of California and Washington (FWS jurisdiction)

Key conservation issues for marine mammals in the Pacific Region include

  • "take" incidental to commercial fishing
  • disturbance and habitat modification due to coastal development
  • entanglement in marine debris
  • seal and sea lion (pinniped) interactions with humans
  • predation on threatened and endangered salmonids

There has been a long-term research and monitoring project on Hawaiian monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and a photo-id study on cetaceans surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands, but information on other marine mammals throughout Pacific Islands areas is limited.

Members

  1. Michael Scott, Chair, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
  2. Hannah Bernard, Hawaii Wildlife Fund
  3. Robin Brown, OR Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
  4. John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research Collective
  5. Mark Fraker, TerraMar Environmental Research, Ltd.
  6. Doyle Hanan, CA Dept. Fish and Game (Ret.); Hanan and Associates, Inc.
  7. Jim Harvey, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
  8. Chuck Janisse, Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters
  9. Steve Jeffries, WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
  10. Katherine Ralls, Smithsonian Institution
  11. Terry Wright, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Pacific SRG Meeting Minutes and Correspondence

More Information

Updated: September 24, 2012
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