While the population Steller sea lions in the western part of the state is still a subject of concern, the stock in eastern Alaska is experiencing a boom. In the past 15 years, the number of eastern Steller sea lions has doubled up to 70,000 animals, and now, federal biologists want to take the animal off the endangered species list.

Nearly 2,000 species have been placed on that list since it was created. If the eastern Steller sea lion is removed from it, it will be only the second animal to have achieved recovery status.

The sea lion population was nearly wiped out in the early half of the 20th century by people who believed the animals were competing with commercial fishermen for food. The practice of shooting the sea lions was banned in the 1970s, and the population started to rebound shortly thereafter.

Conservationists are happy with the news. Jon Warrenchuk is a scientist with Oceana.

“This is a conservation success story,” says Warrenchuk. “When we stopped shooting them indiscriminately, and ended things like bounties and predator control programs they recovered.”

But while the eastern stock of Steller sea lions may be in good shape, the western stock remains threatened.

Dana Seagars works in the protected resources division for the National Marine Fisheries Service, and he says that the eastern population’s recovery can’t easily be replicated. It was clear that the eastern population was declining because the sea lions were being shot, but there’s no definitive agreement on what’s causing the western stock to shrink. Nutritional stress, competition with commercial fisheries, and whale predation have all been listed as potential reasons for their decline.

Seagars adds that it’s not enough to just be satisfied with the recovery of the eastern Steller sea lion since the two stocks are so different.

“The genetics of the two really are quite dissimilar and do show very distinct individual characteristics in the DNA,” says Seagars. “So, you couldn’t look at them and tell them apart, but genetically, you can.”

NMFS now has one year to decide whether to remove the eastern Steller sea lion from the endangered species list. If it is delisted, the stock will still be regulated and monitored under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.