Management rules for marine mammal populations: A response to Lonergan

The development of management rules for decisions regarding marine mammal populations, which resulted in the Revised Management Procedure (RMP) of the International Whaling Commission and Potential Biological Removal (PBR) within the US Marine Mammal Protection Act is well documented. The description by Lonergan (Potential biological removal and other currently used management rules for marine mammal populations: a comparison, in Marine Policy) of RMP and PBR, and the origins of the management policy choices that they are designed to implement, is not accurate. The policy decisions relating to conservation targets, and the balance between conservation and utilisation, were made by governments and legislators, not by scientists as claimed by Lonergan. Based on the original sources the key aspects of the two procedures, including the way they incorporate policy choices, are explained. Some misconceptions by Lonergan regarding Canada's Atlantic Seal Management Strategy are also addressed. The Management Strategy Evaluation approach used in the development of RMP and PBR has since become increasingly widely used in fishery management. It provides a means to assess the short- and long-term consequences of different policy choices in the context of realistic levels of uncertainty over the status and dynamics of the populations concerned. An alternative approach suggested by Lonergan has been found wanting in the past and would likely also fail in the future.