Under the current regulations, annual subsistence harvests 

 are limited to taking juvenile male seals between the end of June 

 and the second week of August. In mid-August, female seals begin 

 arriving at the rookery in larger numbers and young male and 

 female seals, which are not easily distinguished, become 

 intermixed. The regulations also require the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service to estimate the minimum and maximum number of 

 seals needed for subsistence purposes by Native residents on both 

 St. George Island and St. Paul Island (the two principal islands 

 in the Pribilofs) before the start of each year's harvest. If 

 the minimum 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 provide for extending the harvest to as late 

 as 30 September if subsistence needs are not met by 8 August. In 

 1988, the Service noted that there was an increased risk of 

 taking female seals during the extension period and it announced 

 its intent to eliminate this provision of the regulations for 

 1989 and subsequent years. However, it took no further action 

 before the 1989 harvest and, in its 7 August 1989 notice of 

 estimated harvest levels, the Service again indicated its intent 

 to eliminate the provision beginning with the 1990 harvest. No 

 further action on this matter was taken in 1989. 



In 1988, 1,145 seals were killed during the subsistence 

 harvest on St. Paul Island and 113 seals were taken on St. George 

 Island. For 1989, the Service projected subsistence needs at 

 1,600 to 1,800 seals for St. Paul Island and 533 to 600 seals for 

 St. George Island. The actual subsistence harvests in 1989 were 

 1,340 seals on St. Paul Island and 181 seals on St. George 

 Island. No female seals were taken on either island. 



Preparation of A Conservation Plan for the North Pacific Fur Seal 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the Secretary of 

 Commerce or the Interior, in consultation with the Marine Mammal 

 Commission and its Committee of Scientific Advisors, to designate 

 a species or population of marine mammals as depleted if it is 

 determined to be below its optimum sustainable population level. 

 Once designated as such, animals may be taken only for certain, 

 limited purposes, such as Alaska Native subsistence and 

 handicrafts, limited taking incidental to commercial fishing 

 operations, scientific research, and enhancement of the species' 

 survival. 



The term "optimum sustainable population" has been defined 

 as a range of population levels between the largest supportable 

 within the ecosystem (i.e. , carrying capacity) and the population 

 level that results in the greatest net annual increment in 

 numbers or biomass (i.e. , the maximum net productivity level) . 

 Based on precedents established for other species and analyses of 



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