152 



Fishery Bulletin 97(1), 1999 



know the extent of problems in any particular applica- 

 tion. When priors are used, the usefulness of Bayesian 

 approaches ( when obtainable) would seem to be greater 

 than MCA, because the effect of the priors is washed 

 out with increasing data (contrary to what happens 

 with MCA). When priors are not required, either Baye- 

 sian or MLE techniques might be usefially applied. 



Acknowledgments 



This research was supported by the North Slope Bor- 

 ough, Alaska, and the National Oceanic and Atmo- 

 spheric Administration (through the National Ma- 

 rine Mammal Laboratory and the Alaska Eskimo 

 Whaling Commission). The authors are grateful to 

 Victor Restrepo and John Hoenig for comments on 

 an earlier draft and would also like to thank Doug 

 Butterworth, Carey Priebe, Andre Punt, Tore 

 Schweder, Judy Zeh, and four anonymous reviewers 

 for their helpful comments and suggestions. How- 

 ever, the views expressed are solely the authors'. 



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