The number of Hawaiian monk seal hooking incidents is on pace to more than double lasts years amount, according to numbers shared by the Department of Land and Natural Resources on Friday.
Thats why the DLNR and the NOAA Fisheries Service are asking for the kokua of local fishermen in this media release:
The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and NOAA Fisheries announced this week that since March 2012, NOAA Fisheries, DLNR, and partners have responded to five seal hooking incidents involving four individual Hawaiian monk seals. Three of these responses are still in progress.
NOAA and DLNR would like to take this opportunity to remind fishermen that monk seal deaths and injuries from fishing interactions can often be prevented, and adverse impacts to fishermen and seals can be reduced through early reporting of incidents.
Monk seals are a vital part of Hawaii’s marine and cultural environment, said William J. Aila, Jr., DLNR Chairperson. While DLNR and NOAA seek to address all adverse impacts on Hawaiian monk seals, we want to acknowledge the cooperation of Hawaii fishermen and emphasize that we do not consider fishing interactions in the main Hawaiian Islands to currently pose a major threat to monk seal recovery.
NOAA Fisheries Service data indicate that a total of 77 hooking incidents have been reported over the past 10 years, with at total of nine incidents in 2011 and eight incidents reported thus far in 2012 (including the five incidents discussed here).
However, in only two cases, including one of the recent cases, have hookings been deemed the likely cause of a seal’s death, Aila added. We want to partner with the fishermen to further reduce impacts. Following the guidelines and reporting hookings can help make a relatively small impact become even smaller.
The agencies offer guidelines, titled Hawaiian Monk Seals and Fishing Interactions: Guidelines for Prevention, Safety and Reporting, that describe actions fishermen can take to avoid seal hookings and entanglement, and to reduce fishing gear and bait loss. The guidelines also stress the importance of reporting all fishing interactions.
The guidelines are available at the following link. The toll-free, 24/7 reporting hotline for all fishing interactions and other marine mammal incidents is: 1-888-256-9840. NOAA and DLNR urge all fishermen and other ocean users to write down this hotline and/or save it in their mobile phones for timely use whenever a seal is hooked or entangled.
We want to encourage reporting as early as possible. We feel we can develop win-win solutions with the fishermen, and their reporting is essential to achieving this, said Jeff Walters, Marine Mammal Branch Chief, NOAA NMFS PIRO.