residents on the islands have continued under authority of 

 the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Fur Seal Act. 



As described in previous Annual Reports, the subsistence 

 harvest of fur seals is governed by regulations issued by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service on 9 July 1986. Among 

 other things, the regulations provide for an annual subsis- 

 tence harvest of juvenile male seals from the end of June to 

 the second week of August when an influx of sub-adult female 

 seals begins to break down the rookery structure. The 

 regulations require that the Service estimate the minimum and 

 maximum number of seals needed for subsistence purposes on 

 both St. George and St. Paul Islands before the start of each 

 year's harvest. If and when the lower limit of the harvest 

 estimate is reached, the harvest must be suspended pending a 

 determination by the Service that additional seals are required 

 to meet subsistence needs. 



The regulations also provide for extending the harvest 

 to as late as 30 September if the Service determines, among 

 other things, that the number of seals taken prior to 8 August 

 does not meet the subsistence needs of the Pribilof Natives. 

 However, because of the demonstrated risk of accidentally 

 taking female seals during the harvest extension, the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, in its 1 August 1988 notice of harvest 

 levels, stated its intention to modify the regulations to 

 eliminate the extension option for 1989 and subsequent years. 



In 1987, 1,710 seals were killed during the subsistence 

 harvest on St. Paul Island and 92 seals were taken on St. 

 George Island. For 1988, the Service projected that between 

 1,800 to 2,200 fur seals would be needed for subsistence 

 purposes on St. Paul Island and 600 to 725 seals on St. George 

 Island. During the 1988 subsistence harvest, Alaska Natives 

 on St. Paul Island took 1,145 fur seals, and residents on St. 

 George Island took 113 fur seals. No females were taken on 

 either island. 



Designation of North Pacific Fur Seals as Depleted 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act provides that when the 

 Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Marine Mammal 

 Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors on Marine 

 Mammals, determines that a species or population stock is 

 below its optimum sustainable population level, the species 

 or population stock shall be designated as depleted. Once 

 designated as such, the species may be taken only for limited 

 purposes, including for Alaska Native subsistence and handi- 

 crafts, limited taking incidental to commercial fishing 

 operations (see Chapter II) , small incidental takes by certain 

 authorized activities other than commercial fishing, scientific 

 research, and enhancement of the species' survival or recovery. 



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