Fisheries Service published emergency interim regulations on 

 8 July 1985 to govern the 1985 subsistence take of fur seals 

 by Aleut residents of the Pribilof Islands. 



Permanent subsistence harvest regulations were issued by 

 the Service on 9 July 1986. The regulations set a subsistence 

 harvest season from 30 June to 8 August of each year. The 

 closing date was established to minimize the risk of taking 

 females. After early August there is an influx of sub-adult 

 female seals and a breakdown of the rookery structure. The 

 regulations also provide for extension of the harvest period 

 to as late as 30 September if the Service determines that 

 subsistence needs have not been met by 8 August. If the 

 harvest is extended, however, there are special provisions to 

 limit the number of female seals that may accidentally be 

 taken. In addition, the regulations require that the Service 

 make a determination of the expected maximum and minimum 

 number of seals needed for subsistence purposes on both St. 

 Paul and St. George Islands prior to the start of the harvest 

 each year. If the lower limit of the projected harvest range 

 is reached during any year, the regulations reguire that the 

 harvest be suspended pending a determination by the Service 

 that additional seals are required to meet subsistence needs. 

 The harvest may also be terminated before the lower estimate 

 is reached if it is determined that the residents' subsistence 

 needs have been met. 



For 1987, the Service estimated that 1,600 to 3,000 fur 

 seals were needed for subsistence on St. Paul and that 53 to 

 1,000 seals were required on St. George. These estimates 

 were somewhat lower than those for 1986 and were based, in 

 part, on the 1986 take. The harvest on St. Paul Island was 

 suspended on 7 August 1987 after 1,600 seals (the lower bound 

 of the estimated subsistence need) were taken. On 7 August, 

 St. Paul residents, through their Native corporation, requested 

 an extension of the harvest through 30 September to take an 

 unspecified number of additional seals. A public meeting was 

 held on 17 August to discuss the extension and subsequently 

 the Natives agreed to limit their request to two additional 

 harvest days and 300 additional seals. The Commission, by 

 letter of 27 August 1987, supported the extension, but recom- 

 mended that it be limited to 211 seals, the additional number 

 needed to meet subsistence requirements as indicated by a 

 survey of the Natives at the close of the season. Based on 

 experience from the 1986 extension when 12 female seals were 

 taken accidentally on one day, the Commission questioned the 

 ability of anyone, including the Pribilof Natives, to distin- 

 guish between sub-adult male and female seals under harvest 

 conditions. The Commission recommended that the harvest be 

 monitored closely to ensure that the unauthorized take of 

 females that occurred during the 1986 extended harvest was 

 not repeated. 



33 



