Contemporary Foraging of the Hawaiian Monk Seal as a Retrospective Lens for Commercial Fishing and Its Relevance to Ecosystem‐Based Fishery Management

ABSTRACT This retrospective analysis explores how historical fishing activity (1948–2009) at French Frigate Shoals (FFS) can be examined in relation to the foraging ecology of Hawaiian monk seals. We bring together fisheries catch records, monk seal demographic information, and ecological studies on prey, competitors, and predators to evaluate potential pathways of interaction. Rather than drawing firm conclusions about fishing impacts, we use these data as temporal context to consider how overlapping fisheries may have coincided with changes in prey availability, competition, and predation risk. This approach highlights both the value and the limitations of using historical landings as ecological indicators: they provide insight into timing and intensity of human activity but cannot directly measure population dynamics. Framed as a hypothesis‐generating exercise, this case study illustrates how retrospective ecosystem‐based fisheries analyses can be used to investigate cumulative and indirect pathways of multiple fisheries that interact with protected species and help inform ecosystem‐based fishery management (EBFM) efforts. Looking at the historical patterns of monk seal beach counts in relation to the combination and timing of different fisheries (handline, trap, and international trawling) over 60 years showed the potential to both improve and diminish foraging success of the Hawaiian monk seal in the FFS region.