[pefloresjr]

[quote author=pefloresjr link=topic=16690.msg190162#msg190162 date=1489863091]
Even with overtime rules now and some limits on over fishing of forage fish, the industry it still causing forage fish populations to collapse far beyond their normal cycles.  As a result, the sardine fishery is again shut down.  Seal lions and pelicans are starving.  Paying workers overtime has nothing to do with it. 

I don't know where "starving" comes from.  Governmental agencies indicate that their populations are at "carrying capacity" and "large".

(Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife)

The U.S. population of California sea lions is currently estimated at up to 300,000 animals, all on the Pacific coast. From an estimated population of about 10,000 animals in the 1950s, U.S. California sea lion numbers have grown rapidly since the 1970s and the species is now at “carrying capacity”—near the highest level the environment can sustain—according to wildlife biologists.

(US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2006)

The [California] brown pelican is well-distributed throughout its known historical range.  Even the most conservative, available estimates indicate that its global population size is large, consisting of hundreds of thousands of individuals.  Local or regional populations may fluctuate in response to such factors as severe storms and to variable weather patterns such as El Niño that affect food supply.

[/quote]

Those all speak about the long-term increased numbers, which are largely due to conservation efforts.  However they don't analyze the shorter term decreases in sardines and anchovies nor do they explain the recent 3-4 years of Unusual Mortality Events as they are known in wildlife study. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries (Part of the Commerce Dept.):

"The study by NOAA Fisheries scientists is the first to analyze changes in fish populations sea lions prey on for clues as to what is causing the record strandings. Scientists examined changes in the abundance of four of the main sea lion prey species: sardine, anchovy, rockfish and market squid over the 2004-2014 time period. They found found that high-calorie sardines and anchovies, both rich in fat that is vital to the growth of young sea lions, have declined since the mid-2000s in the areas around the Channel Islands where the females forage. That has forced the female sea lions to prey instead on market squid and rockfish, which contain far less fat and fewer calories."

“When you have hundreds of thousands of animals to feed and you have a fluctuating prey base that has trended downward, you are going to have starving animals,” said Sam McClatchie of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., and lead author of the new research. “Sardines and anchovies have both trended downward, and that compounds the problem for the sea lions.”

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/news.aspx?ParentM...9&id=21588

That study only covered through 2014.  2015 and 2016 saw even greater decreases in anchovies (down to 10% of average) causing the fishery to be shut down to try to save it.  The Marine Mammal Center has reported substantial increases in the number of starving animals needing treatment.

http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/about-...gling.html

I don't have time to look for the articles, but I read that Brown Pelicans rely on the same food sources and are having recent issues with successful breeding also based on a lack of food.

That is where I saw the reference to starving animals. 

Cheers,
Pete F.

[pefloresjr]

[quote author=pefloresjr link=topic=16690.msg190162#msg190162 date=1489863091]
Even with overtime rules now and some limits on over fishing of forage fish, the industry it still causing forage fish populations to collapse far beyond their normal cycles.  As a result, the sardine fishery is again shut down.  Seal lions and pelicans are starving.  Paying workers overtime has nothing to do with it. 

I don't know where "starving" comes from.  Governmental agencies indicate that their populations are at "carrying capacity" and "large".

(Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife)

The U.S. population of California sea lions is currently estimated at up to 300,000 animals, all on the Pacific coast. From an estimated population of about 10,000 animals in the 1950s, U.S. California sea lion numbers have grown rapidly since the 1970s and the species is now at “carrying capacity”—near the highest level the environment can sustain—according to wildlife biologists.

(US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2006)

The [California] brown pelican is well-distributed throughout its known historical range.  Even the most conservative, available estimates indicate that its global population size is large, consisting of hundreds of thousands of individuals.  Local or regional populations may fluctuate in response to such factors as severe storms and to variable weather patterns such as El Niño that affect food supply.

[/quote]

Those all speak about the long-term increased numbers, which are largely due to conservation efforts.  However they don't analyze the shorter term decreases in sardines and anchovies nor do they explain the recent 3-4 years of Unusual Mortality Events as they are known in wildlife study. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries (Part of the Commerce Dept.):

"The study by NOAA Fisheries scientists is the first to analyze changes in fish populations sea lions prey on for clues as to what is causing the record strandings. Scientists examined changes in the abundance of four of the main sea lion prey species: sardine, anchovy, rockfish and market squid over the 2004-2014 time period. They found found that high-calorie sardines and anchovies, both rich in fat that is vital to the growth of young sea lions, have declined since the mid-2000s in the areas around the Channel Islands where the females forage. That has forced the female sea lions to prey instead on market squid and rockfish, which contain far less fat and fewer calories."

“When you have hundreds of thousands of animals to feed and you have a fluctuating prey base that has trended downward, you are going to have starving animals,” said Sam McClatchie of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., and lead author of the new research. “Sardines and anchovies have both trended downward, and that compounds the problem for the sea lions.”

https://swfsc.noaa.gov/news.aspx?ParentM...9&id=21588

That study only covered through 2014.  2015 and 2016 saw even greater decreases in anchovies (down to 10% of average) causing the fishery to be shut down to try to save it.  The Marine Mammal Center has reported substantial increases in the number of starving animals needing treatment.

http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/about-...gling.html

I don't have time to look for the articles, but I read that Brown Pelicans rely on the same food sources and are having recent issues with successful breeding also based on a lack of food.

That is where I saw the reference to starving animals. 

Cheers,
Pete F.