November 20, 2017
Recovering populations of killer
whales, sea lions and harbor seals on the West Coast have dramatically
increased their consumption of chinook salmon in the last 40 years, which may
now exceed the combined harvest by commercial and recreational fisheries, a new
study finds.
While the recovery of marine
mammals represents a conservation success, it creates complex tradeoffs for
managers also charged with protecting the salmon they prey on, the study
concludes. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 protects all marine
mammals, including whales and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) within the waters
of the United States. and the Endangered Species Act protects nine West Coast
populations of chinook
salmon.
The study was published today in
the journal Scientific Reports. The findings resulted from a collaboration
of federal, state and tribal scientists in the Pacific Northwest, including
Oregon State University and NOAA Fisheries. The research was designed in part
to understand the pressures on chinook salmon consumed by southern
resident killer
whales, which in contrast to other killer whale populations are
endangered and show few signs of recovery.
Southern residents spend much of
the year in the inland waters of Washington and consume about the same volume
of salmon today as they did 40 years ago, the study found. The study suggests
that, at least in recent years, competition with other marine mammals may be
more of a problem for southern residents than competition with human fisheries.
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