With NOAA's draft biological opinion on Steller sea lions and the impact pollock fishing has on them due out by the end of this month, Jim Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries administrator for Alaska region, talked to IntraFish on Tuesday about the complexities of making cause-and-effect assumptions based on catch numbers.
Pollock is one of three major sources of food for Steller sea lions -- Atka mackerel and Pacific cod are the others -- but the sea lions eat about 25 different species as part of their diets, he said.
"They
