Chapter 11 — Species of Special Concern 



Pacific Walrus 

 (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) 



Within historic times, walruses appear to have been 

 grouped in at least seven population centers distribut- 

 ed around the Arctic Ocean and adjacent northern 

 seas. All populations were exploited heavily for 

 commercial purposes and one, in the Canadian Mari- 

 time Provinces from southern Newfoundland to 

 southern Nova Scotia, was hunted to extinction more 

 than 100 years ago. The remaining six populations 

 occur: (1) from eastern Hudson Bay to western 

 Greenland, (2) from Baffin Bay, northwest Canada, to 

 northwest Greenland, (3) along the east coast of 

 Greenland, (4) in the Barents, Kara, and White Seas 

 north of Norway and the eastern Soviet Union; (5) in 

 the Laptev Sea off the north-central Soviet Union; and 

 (6) in the Bering and Chukchi Seas between the Soviet 

 Union and the United States. 



The walrus population in the Bering and Chukchi 

 Seas, known as the Pacific walrus, is recognized as a 

 separate sub-species. Animals occur year-round as far 

 south as die Alaska Peninsula and the northern Kuril 

 Islands. Most animals, however, follow the edge of 

 die pack ice as it advances south into the Bering Sea 

 in winter and recedes north into the Chukchi Sea in 

 summer. At least three times since the late 1700s, the 

 Pacific walrus appears to have been over-exploited to 

 very low levels and to have subsequently recovered. 

 It now represents perhaps 80 to 90 percent of the total 

 world number and is the only walrus population that 

 has substantially recovered from past hunting. 



Estimates of the size of the Pacific walrus popula- 

 tion are based on joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. aerial surveys 

 conducted once every five years from 1975 to 1990. 

 The 1980 and 1985 estimates of 246,360 and 234,020 

 walruses, respectively, are considered comparable to 

 estimates of pre-exploitation population levels. 

 Unusual ice conditions in 1990 made it impossible to 

 compare results of that survey with those of previous 

 surveys. Thus, results of the 1990 survey are not 

 usable for assessing recent population trends. Howev- 

 er, the 1990 survey indicates that the population 

 numbers at least 201,039 animals. 



Subsistence Harvests of Walruses 



Pacific walruses are a traditional subsistence 

 resource of great importance to the Native peoples of 

 coastal Alaska and eastern Siberia. They provide food 

 and raw materials essential for survival in the far 

 north. They also provide ivory for traditional Native 

 handicrafts that are important to the economies of 

 Native villages. The Marine Mammal Protection Act 

 includes an exemption from its moratorium on taking 

 of marine mammals, including walruses, for Native 

 subsistence and handicraft purposes, provided the take 

 is done in a non-wasteful maimer. 



Results of annual Native harvests in Alaska and 

 Siberia from 1970 to 1989 are shown in Table 5. The 

 data do not include all animals killed in the harvest 

 because some walruses that are shot sink before they 

 can be retrieved and some escape mortally wounded. 

 An estimate made in the 1960s suggests that perhaps 

 40 percent of the animals killed in the Alaskan harvest 

 are not retrieved. Assessments of such losses since 

 then have not been undertaken. 



In 1990, the Fish and Wildlife Service suspended 

 its harvest monitoring program because of ftinding 

 constraints. The only data on harvest levels for 1990 

 and 1991 are from a program begun by the Service 

 late in 1988 to mark and tag walrus tusks to help 

 prevent illegal trade. In 1990, 1,483 walruses were 

 reported through the marking program; in 1991, the 

 number was 1,938 walruses. It is not clear whether 

 all walruses harvested in 1990 and 1991 were report- 

 ed. For example, calves and other animals without 

 tusks need not be marked but are taken by hunters. 

 In addition, some hunters may have been reluctant to 

 participate in the new marking and tagging program. 

 It also is not clear how the annual marking totals 

 relate to previous estimates based on past harvest 

 monitoring. Harvest figures for 1990 and 1991 in 

 Siberia are not available. 



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