Island. Sea otter populations are also present, with primary concentra- 

 tions in the Perenosa Bay area and east of Shuyak Island. Harbor seals 

 and harbor porpoises, Dall porpoises and killer whales are also common. 



The city of Kodiak (population 9,000) is the major center of 

 population, commerce, trade, and transportation of the region, and has a 

 large non-Native population. Some 15 outlying Eskimo communities along 

 the coasts and islands have varying degrees of social and economic 

 dependence on the city and are served by tranportation based in Kodiak. 

 Fish and shellfish harvesting and production exceed that of any other 

 industry and strongly affect the pattern of community development . The 

 importance of the fishing industry, with its inherent seasonality, is 

 one reason for the relatively high unemployment in the region. 



Petroleum Resources 



The USGS has yet to issue estimates of undiscovered recoverable 



petroleum resources for the western Gulf of Alaska, but Alaska's Department 

 of Natural Resources (DNR) has forecast high and low scenarios for the 

 region. For the low scenario, DNR calculated a figure of 372 million 

 barrels of oil and 2.3 billion cubic feet of gas and for the high scenario, 

 DNR estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 8 trillion cubic feet of 

 gas. The Department did not specify the probability of either scenario. 



Status of PCS Operations 



BLM will make the western Gulf the third frontier area leased off 



Alaska in November of 1977. This sale may offer as much as 3 million 



acres off the east coast of Kodiak Island. Before any sale can take 



45 



