MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1995 



by hunters were not recovered. The need to update 

 this analysis is identified in the walrus conservation 

 plan, and the Service is discussing work in this regard 

 with Native hunters. 



The percentage of struck and lost animals that 

 survive is uncertain, but based on the rare observation 

 of healed bullet wounds on stranded animals and other 

 information this may be low. As a result, the catch 

 figures in Table 6 may reflect only 60 to 70 percent 

 of the total number of animals killed annually by 

 hunters. In light of the combined catch estimates for 

 the United States and Russia and animals stuck but 

 lost, the Service has expressed concern that harvest 

 mortality in the mid-1980s may have approached or 

 exceeded replacement levels. 



Table 6. Estimated catch of Pacific walruses in 

 Alaska and total reported catch of 

 walruses in Russia, 1980-1995 (Catch 

 figures do not include animals struck 

 and not retrieved.) 



Sources: Fay, F.H., and C.E. Bowlby. 1994. The harvest of 

 Pacific walrus, 1931-1989. Technical Report MMM 

 94-2. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, 

 Alaska. 44 pp. Data for 1990-1995 from Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 



Another source of data on walrus harvests is the 

 marine mammal marking, tagging, and reporting 

 program begun by the Service in 1988. The pro- 

 gram's purposes are twofold — to help control illegal 

 trade in marine mammal parts, including walrus 

 ivory, and to improve information on the number of 

 animals being taken. Under the program, walrus 

 tusks taken in the subsistence harvest are tagged by 

 authorized Service agents. The tags must thereafter 

 remain with the uncarved tusks. From 1990 to 1994 

 tusks were tagged from 1,466, 2,163, 1,678, 1,173, 

 and 1,303 walruses, respectively. Preliminary data 

 indicate 966 animals were tagged in 1995. Walrus 

 calves, which are sometimes taken by hunters, are not 

 reflected in the tagging data because they lack tusks. 



Resumption of Subsistence Hunting 

 at Round Island 



One of the four major terrestrial haul-out sites for 

 walruses in the United States is on Round Island in 

 northern Bristol Bay. In recent years, peak summer 

 counts of walruses at Round Island have ranged from 

 about 4,000 to 7,000 animals; in 1995 the peak count 

 was 7,800 animals, the highest since 1986. Telemetry 

 studies indicate that the walruses at Round Island are 

 part of a regional group that also hauls out on beaches 

 in at least two other Bristol Bay areas — Cape Senia- 

 vin on the Alaska peninsula and Cape Peirce on the 

 mainland. 



Round Island was traditionally a walrus hunting site 

 for Native hunters in nearby villages; however, in 

 1960 the State of Alaska designated the Walrus 

 Islands, which include Round Island, as a state game 

 sanctuary. Established to protect what had become 

 one of the last viable terrestrial walrus haul-out 

 beaches in North America, the sanctuary was placed 

 under management authority of the Alaska Board of 

 Game and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 

 As part of the action, Round Island was closed to 

 hunting and access was restricted by a permit system. 

 Since 1960 the sanctuary has become an increasingly 

 popular destination for tourists interested in viewing 

 walruses in their natural habitat. In 1991 Native 

 hunters from several Bristol Bay villages asked the 

 Alaska Board of Game to allow access to Round 

 Island to resume a small subsistence hunt for walrus- 



46 



