Shark Predation on Hawaiian Monk Seals - Pacific Islands Fisheries ...

ORGANIZATION OF THIS TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
This technical memorandum is organized into three separate sections: Section I. Workshop II
Report, Section II. Knowledge to Date about the <strong>Shark</strong> <strong>Predation</strong> at FFS and its Mitigation, and
Section III. Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program’s (HMSRP) Premises, Positions and Post-
Workshop Developments. The first section describes the information, views and opinions
presented by participants at Workshop II, along with a summary of the discussion that followed
each topic’s presentation where applicable, as interpreted by the HMSRP. Each stakeholder or
agency perspective is summarized in this section in the form of an abstract authored by their
representatives who attended the workshop. The scope and history of the shark predation and
its mitigation at FFS was briefly summarized at the workshop; however, a full accounting is
detailed in the next section of this technical memorandum.
The second section serves as a reference of the knowledge, inferences, and experiences
gathered to date on the issue of shark predation on Hawaiian monk seal pups and chronicles the
advances and setbacks HMSRP has experienced in attempting to stem shark predation of monk
seal pups over the last decade. At the workshop, it was recommended that some facts, figures
and definitions pertaining to HMSRP’s understanding of the shark predation issue be included
in this report. This section summarizes and consolidates information from many sources: peerreviewed
articles, government reports, and field scientists’ experiences. As such, a more
complete picture of the issue is available here that was not fully formed at Workshop II because
of time constraints.
The third section describes the HMSRP’s developments in regards to the recommendations
from Workshop II. Prioritized research queries and mitigation options are considered in more
detail and plans to execute some of these actions are provided. The latter are organized as
individual Appendices and ideas presented here will be modified over time as new insights,
input, and information arises with each field season of research.
The views and opinions expressed in the last two sections belong to no one member of the
HMSRP; rather, they are communicated to demonstrate the breadth of thinking of the team as a
whole. The shark predation issue at FFS has many sides and each mitigation activity has its
pros and cons. It is likely valuable to present these different aspects in one report to properly
take stock and progress forward on the issue. In this way, these two sections also serve as a
reference for stakeholders wishing to gain additional understanding about management
decisions put forth by HMSRP in the past and those likely to be pursued in the future.
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