Hawaii FEP - Western Pacific Fishery Council

to monk seal foraging. Coral and fish inhabit the same type of high relief and high flow habitats;however, it is unknown if any impact occurs to monk seals or other protected species as a resultof coral harvest (Parrish 2006). There could be some impact from routine fishing vesseloperations (e.g., behavioral or physiological reactions to noise, collisions, or releases ofpollutants), however such impacts would be rare posing a very low-level risk to monk seals. Thecoral harvest uses extremely selective gear and operates on a small scale; therefore, it seemsprudent to expect little to no impact is occurring. There have been no reported or observedinteractions between sea turtles and Hawaii’s precious corals fishery. With implementation ofthis FEP, this extremely low-level risk to monk seals would remain.There have been no reported or observed interactions between sea turtles and precious coralsfisheries in the region. There could be some impact on sea turtles from routine fishing vesseloperations (e.g., behavioral or physiological reactions to noise, collisions, or releases ofpollutants). Such impacts, however, would be rare, and therefore constitute a very low-level riskto sea turtles. With implementation of this FEP, this extremely low-level risk to sea turtles wouldremain.The precious corals fishery relies on selective harvesting gear (hand harvest and submersibles)which is not likely to result in any interactions with seabirds, and no such interactions have beenreported or observed. Following consultations under section 7 of the ESA, NMFS hasdetermined that the precious corals fisheries will not adversely affect any ESA-listed species orcritical habitat in the Hawaii Archipelago.This FEP continues the existing federal regulations regarding fishery interactions with protectedspecies.Unlisted Species InteractionsSpecies of marine mammals that are not listed under the ESA but are protected under the MarineMammal Protection Act (MMPA; see Section 8.6) and occur in Federal waters of the HawaiiArchipelago where the precious corals fishery may operate are as follows:Whales• Blainsville beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris)• Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni)• Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris)• Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia simus)• False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens)• Killer whale (Orcinus orca)• Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus)• Melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra)• Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)• Pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata)• Pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps)• Short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)Dolphins• Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)115