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FAO adopts watered down protection measures

The FAO’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) adopted a series of recommendations aimed at protecting monk seals from accidental entanglement in fishing gear at its 9-14 May 2011 session in Rome.

Recommendation GFCM/35/2011/5 on Fisheries Measures for the Conservation of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) in the GFCM Competence Area calls for Contracting Parties and Cooperating Parties of the Commission (CPCs) to implement the following measures:

— Prohibit fishing vessels from taking on board, transporting or landing monk seals unless required to assist in the rescue of injured individuals, and only then with prior official authorisation.

— Seals encountered entangled in fishing gear must be released unharmed and alive.

— Seals found dead in fishing gear must be brought ashore and the authorities  promptly notified (at the latest upon arrival at port).

— Any incidental take and release must be recorded in the vessel’s logbook, and reported to the relevant authorities for onward notification of the GFCM Secretariat.

— No later than 2015, CPCs should adopt fisheries management measures designed to attain a “very low and close to 0 risk” of incidental take and mortality of monk seals in fishing activities.

— CPCs must provide the GFCM Secretariat with the geographical positions of already known, past and current monk seal caves, with corresponding information on fleets deploying bottom-set nets within a maximum 20 mile range. Preliminary maps and data should be completed by December 2011, and transmitted to the GFCM no later than 31 January 2012. (Access to such potentially sensitive data, the document is at pains to point out, will be restricted.)

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Monk seal favourite killed on Amorgos

— by Erwin Werdenigg, Amorgos Island Magazine
The young seal was found dead on an Amorgos beach

Amorgos – June 15th, 2011: The young friendly male monk seal appearing in the port of Aegiali at the middle of April quickly won the hearts of the people and became a “mascot” of tourists and also the magazine.  On last Friday (June 10th) Dimitris Synodinos (Amorgos Diving Center) alerted that the animal was found dead on the beach.

People from MOm (the Greek monk seal protection group) could not travel to Amorgos themselves due to increased ferry occupancy. The animal was send to Athens on Saturday for autopsy. The examination at MOm showed that:

It was a young male seal, 6-7 months old, in good nutritional status. The animal had injuries in the back sustained by a sharp object, which crossed the side to reach the thoracic cavity, thus injuring the lung. Histological analysis will give us information on whether the animal eventually died from suffocation or internal bleeding. In any case, death resulted from the trauma deliberately inflicted upon the animal, from close distance.

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NOAA seeks public comment on critical habitat revision

Media Watch, NOAA press release, 8 June 2011
A group of seals resting on a beach in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Photo: NOAA

NOAA’s Fisheries Service has proposed 16 areas as critical habitat for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and is inviting public comment. The proposed revision includes expanding the 1988 critical habitat designation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and adding new areas throughout the main Hawaiian Islands.

In July 2008, NOAA Fisheries Service received a petition from non-governmental organizations to revise the Hawaiian monk seal critical habitat designation under the ESA. In June 2009, NOAA Fisheries Service released a 12-month finding, which is one step in the review process, announcing that the petition presented substantial scientific information indicating that a revision to the current critical habitat designation was warranted and announced its intention to move forward with a proposed rule.

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Algal neurotoxins found in Hawaiian monk seals

Media Watch, Scientific American, 2 June 2011

More than 30 years after 50 critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) died of suspected algal toxic poisoning, the presence of ciguatoxins in living seals has finally been confirmed through a new, noninvasive test.

Ciguatoxins are produced by dinoflagellates, which live near coral and seaweed. The dinoflagellates are eaten by small fish, which are fed on by larger fish that are in turn consumed by predators such as seals and humans. Ingesting ciguatoxins produces an illness known as ciguatera, which produces gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms. [Continues]

Source: Algal neurotoxins found in endangered Hawaiian monk seals by John Platt, Scientific American 2 June 2011

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Critical habitat proposed for Hawaiian monk seals

Media Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Press Release, 1 June 2011
Photo: Paulo Maurin

The federal government has proposed to designate more than 11,000 square miles [28,000 sq km] of critical habitat for endangered Hawaiian monk seals. The proposed rule protects beaches and coastal waters on all the main Hawaiian Islands and expands protected habitat in the Northwestern Islands. The proposal responds to a 2008 petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, and Ocean Conservancy. Hawaiian monk seals are among the most endangered marine mammals in the world, with a population of approximately 1,000 animals. The proposal will protect coastal areas for seals to raise pups and marine waters for foraging.

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A message to our readers and contributors

The Monachus GuardianSeeking a more effective model in reporting the challenges affecting conservation of the Mediterranean and Hawaiian monk seals, we have decided to cease publication of The Monachus Guardian as a biannual journal. Perhaps inevitably in this age of cutbacks, lack of funding for the Guardian also proved a contributing factor.

After 26 issues and 13 years, we take this decision with some regret, but believe that the redesigned TMG offers advantages in reporting developments as they happen, as well as allowing publication of articles or features, editorials and letters to the editor on an intermittent basis. Please consult our submissions guidelines for further details.

As a consequence of these changes, requests for submissions and announcements of publication will no longer be sent to existing subscribers by email. Readers seeking timely alerts of newly published articles or news items are encouraged to subscribe to our RSS-feed.

As always, we would look forward to hearing your views, both on The Monachus Guardian itself and monk seal conservation in general.

Needless to say, any leads on possible funding avenues that might keep TMG alive and kicking, would be gratefully received.

— William M. Johnson (Editor) | Matthias Schnellmann (Publisher)