April 12, 2004

Appointments

Marc Mangel appointed to marine policy advisory groups

By Tim Stephens

Marc Mangel, professor of applied math and statistics and director of UCSC's Center for Stock Assessment Research, has been appointed to serve on two scientific advisory groups--one on the restoration of Pacific salmon and steelhead and another on the management of British seal populations.

Marc Mangel

The first group, known as the Recovery Science Review Panel, provides critical scientific advice to the National Marine Fisheries Service for its Northwest salmon recovery planning efforts. The federal agency (known as NOAA Fisheries, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is in the midst of formal recovery planning for Pacific salmon and steelhead listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The recovery planning efforts encompass 26 listed populations or groups of populations (known as evolutionarily significant units) of Pacific salmon and steelhead in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. The listing of some populations has been controversial, and property owners unhappy with restrictions imposed by the Endangered Species Act have challenged the listings in court. Recent court rulings have forced the Fisheries Service to begin reviews that may affect the status of many endangered salmon runs.

At the heart of the controversy is the question of whether to include hatchery fish in evaluating the status of wild fish populations. Mangel said the role of the panel in such issues is to address the scientific questions regarding the roles of hatchery and wild fish, but that the ultimate decisions involve a mixture of science, law, and policy.

Mangel was also appointed to the Special Committee on Seals of the United Kingdom's Natural Environment Research Council. This committee provides scientific advice on matters related to the management of British seal populations.

Two seal species--the common seal and the gray seal--breed around the coast of the British Isles. The population of common seals in Britain has been severely affected by epidemics of phocine distemper virus, first in 1988 and more recently in 2002. Gray seal populations have also undergone declines, possibly caused by reproductive failure due to pollution, but British populations have been increasing in recent years.

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