§1389 Pacific Coast Task Force; Gulf of Maine

Summary

The Secretary of Commerce can allow people to kill certain seals and sea lions (called pinnipeds) when those animals are clearly hurting salmon or similar fish. A State can ask for permission to remove specific, identifiable animals that are seriously harming fish that are listed as endangered or threatened, are nearly listed, or that move through the Ballard Locks in Seattle. The State’s request must show how to identify the animal, describe the problem, and explain the expected benefits of removing it. Within 15 days the Secretary decides whether to set up a Pinniped-Fishery Interaction Task Force and asks the public for comments. The Task Force will include Commerce staff, scientists, fishing and conservation groups, tribes, States, and others. Within 60 days the Task Force recommends approval or denial and describes which animals, where, when, how, how long, and how success will be judged. It must also suggest nonlethal options if possible. The Secretary must decide within 30 days. If approved, federal or state agencies or qualified contractors carry out the removal. After action, the Task Force checks if the steps worked and either suggests more action or tells the Secretary to disband. In deciding, the Task Force and Secretary must consider population trends, feeding habits, where and when the conflict happens, past nonlethal efforts, ecosystem impacts, and public safety. The Secretary cannot approve killing pinnipeds that are listed as endangered or threatened, declared depleted, or are a strategic stock. For the Columbia River, the Secretary may issue permits to eligible States, tribes, or approved committees to lethally remove individually identifiable sea lions that are not from depleted or strategic stocks, if needed to protect endangered or threatened salmon, steelhead, or eulachon, and certain lamprey or sturgeon of concern. The same application timelines and Task Force steps apply. Permits can last up to 5 years and may be renewed. All permits together cannot allow killing more than 10 percent of the annual potential biological removal level for sea lions. Removals must be humane, follow care and euthanasia protocols based on institutional standards, and use qualified people or agencies. If, five years after December 18, 2018, the Secretary and fishery managers find lethal removal is no longer needed, permit issuance must stop. Eligible entities and tribal participants are named in the law, and the Secretary can allow delegation to the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission or an approved committee. The law also lets the Secretary study pinniped-fish interactions in at least three high-predation areas in the Northwest and report results within 18 months if money is available, but the study cannot delay Task Force decisions. The Secretary must also have a Task Force for pinniped problems with aquaculture in the Gulf of Maine and report recommended fixes within 2 years of April 30, 1994. Task Forces must be balanced between users and nonusers, hold public meetings, and are not covered by the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Finally, the Secretary may speed up a stock assessment for Gulf of Maine harbor porpoise and can shorten some deadlines for reducing their bycatch, but not beyond April 1, 1997.