Coordination of Proposed Steller Sea Lion Field Research Activities in Alaska, 2007

April 26, 2007

Until the late 1990s, most research on Steller sea lions in Alaska was conducted by relatively few groups using the Steller Sea Lion Recovery Plan (NMFS 1992) for guidance, and thus coordination was straightforward. Because of a large increase in scientific activity and funding, mostly through Congressional appropriations starting in FY01, a framework for a comprehensive and coordinated research program was created as an organizational tool (Ferrero and Fritz 2002). Studies were also categorized based on which multiple hypotheses proposed for the Steller sea lion decline were being addressed.