No boats are allowed within 1000 feet of the refuge.[3] Refuge staff and volunteers visit the island to keep track of birds and band juvenile pelicans. An estimated 8-10,000 pelicans used to return to Anaho Island each spring from their winter homes in Southern California and Baja California, Mexico. In recent years the number of pelican nests have dropped dramatically, due to water diversions affecting the fish runs of the endangered cui-ui, a staple food of the pelican.[4]
