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1984. To help prepare for these meetings, an ad hoc group 

 of knowledgeable and interested U.S. scientists - will be convened 

 on one or more occasions to review scientific and technical 

 matters to be considered at the Hobart meeting. The contractor 

 will help organize these ad hoc group meetings and prepare 

 the reports to be provided to the U.S. delegation to assist 

 in preparing for the September meetings in Hobart and to 

 interested U.S. scientists to keep them informed of issues 

 being considered by the Commission and Scientific Committee 

 for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. 



Factors Bearing on the Status and Future of the North 



Pacific Fur Seal 



(G. L. Swartzman, Ph.D.) 



The fur seal populations on the Pribilof Islands have 

 been declining for more than two decades. While seventy 

 percent of the decline can be attributed to commercial 

 narvest of female seals between 1956 and 1968, the cause of 

 the remainder of the decline is uncertain and subject to 

 speculation. The contractor is assessing available information 

 to determine: the likely effect, if any, that termination 

 of the commercial sub-adult male fur seal harvest would have 

 on the rate of population decline or the rate of population 

 recovery if the cause or causes of the decline were eliminated; 

 the supporting evidence and validity of the hypothesis that 

 the ongoing population decline is caused by entanglement in 

 lost or discarded fishing gear; and the probable population 

 size 10, 20, and 30 years from now if the population 

 decline is not halted. The contract report, expected to be 

 completed early in 1984, will be reviewed by the Commission 

 in consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors 

 as part of its efforts to determine what additional measures 

 may be effective in protecting and conserving the northern 

 fur seal. 



Steller Sea Lion Pup Counts in Shelikof Strait 

 (North Pacific Fishery Management Council) 



The U.S. joint venture fishery for pollock in Shelikof 

 Strait, Alaska, has grown from a catch of about 900 metric 

 tons in 1980 to more than 130,000 metric tons in 1983. 

 Steller sea lions are caught and killed incidentally in the 

 trawl gear used by the fishery. The purpose of this study, 

 sponsored jointly by the Commission and the North Pacific 

 Fishery Management Council, is to determine whether there 

 has been a change in the number of Steller sea lion pups 

 being born in nearby rookeries. The counts will be made 



