At this meeting, the SSC and Ecosystem Committee received a presentation from Dr. Jeremy Sterling (MML), Dr. Carey Kuhn (MML), and Dr. Elizabeth McHuron (U. Washington) providing an update and background information on a project to observe fine scale foraging patterns of northern fur seals in the Pribilof Islands region, and a project to develop a population level bioenergetic model for northern fur seals in the Bering Sea. The SSC was interested in the ability to address questions pertaining to interactions between northern fur seals and fisheries, and suggested several areas for future improvement.
In February, the SSC normally receives updates from the AFSC Marine Mammal Lab (MML) on marine mammals for which there is conservation concern or those with unusual or unexpected survey results. Because of scheduling conflicts, those updates were not available in February, but will be received by the SSC at the March/April Council meeting.
Staff Contact is Steve MacLean.
