The SSC reviewed the status of marine mammals for which there are conservation concerns or unusual or unexpected results, through a number of presentations from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center Marine Mammal Laboratory, University of Alaska Fairbanks, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and NMFS Alaska Region. The presentations covered a wide variety of topics, species, and regions and several themes related to fisheries management including populations trends, integrated research projects and bioenergetics, changes in the Bering Sea.
The SSC supports continuing to receive annual updates as they provide opportunities for new, fisheries-relevant information and broad perspectives for the Council’s strategic and ecosystem-based management efforts. The SSC is additionally supportive of efforts, across species, to incorporate new technology to improve population monitoring. A more detailed description of the series of presentations and findings is included in the SSC report under item D6.
Staff contact is Diana Evans
