the 67 occurrences were in stomachs from 

 shallow water near the Pribilof Islands (sector 

 3, zones 1 and 3), and the remainder from 

 deep water. G. borealis was in 83 stomachs 

 from the deepwater areas of sectors 1, 2, 

 and 3 in the Bering Sea. These three species 

 of squid appear to be equally distributed in 

 the deepwater areas of the Bering Sea where 

 fur seals were collected. 



Miscellaneous stomach contents 



Traces of unidentified bird feathers were 

 found in two stomachs; unidentified organic 

 material in one; a parasitic isopod, Rocinela 

 belliceps , in one; fragments of unidentified 

 MoUusca in three; fragments of pelecypods in 

 three; a fragment of a gastropod shell in one; 

 and fragments of Cirripedia in two stomachs. 



Stones ranging from 3 to 40 mm. in 

 diameter were in 15 fur seal stomachs from 

 shallow water near the Pribilof Islands; 1 

 contained approximately 200 stones. 



Relation of food of fur seals to commercial 

 fisheries .- -Salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.) were 

 the most important commercial fish identified 

 in stomachs of fur seals in 1964; these nnade 

 up 1.9 percent of the total volume of food in 

 1964, and were in 13 of the 876 stomachs 

 examined. The proportion of food volume con- 

 tributed by a salmon has remained nearly 

 constant in pelagic collections made by the 

 United States since 1958; they have occurred 

 in 112 of 8,380 (1.3 percent) stomachs ex- 

 amined. 



The number of fur seals collected off 

 Oregon (10) and Washington (28) in 1964 was 

 small, and no conclusions about their relation 

 to the commercial fisheries of the two States 

 should be drawn from the stomach contents 

 of these few animals. 



The 10 leading commercial fish and shell- 

 fish from California waters in 1962, in order 

 of pounds landed (California Department of 

 Fish and Game, 1964) were: (1) Trachurus 

 symmetricus (jack mackerel); (2) Scomber 

 japonicus [diego] (Pacific mackerel); (3) 

 Thunnus alalunga (albacore tuna); (4) Thurmus 

 thynnus (bluefin tuna); (5) Sardinops caeruleus 

 (sardine); (6) LoUro opalescens (squid); (7) all 

 species of Sebastodes and Sebastolobus (rock- 

 fish); (8) Microstomus pacificus (Dover sole); 

 (9) Oncorhynchus kisutch and O. tshawytscha 

 (salmon); and (10) Parophrys vetulus (English 

 sole). 



Only Loligo and Oncorhynchus spp. were 

 found both in seal stomachs and in the list of 

 10 leading commercial fish. Loligo represented 

 12.9 percent and Oncorhynchus 0.1 percent of 

 the total volume of food in seal stomachs from 

 California. The present harvest of Loligo is 

 probably only a fraction of the possible yield 

 from this species. The most abundant food 

 species in fur seal stomachs off California 



was hake ( Merluccius productus ), which made 

 up 73.8 percent of the total volume of food; 

 it is of negligible comnnercial value in Cali- 

 fornia at present. 



Herring and walleye pollock have been im- 

 portant in catches of Soviet and Japanese 

 bottomfishing fleets in the Bering Sea. For 

 the first 9 months of 1964, the Japanese catch 

 of herring was reported to be 42,000 metric 

 tons and of walleye pollock, 117,000 metric 

 tons (Commercial Fisheries Review, Decem- 

 ber 1964). 



Herring ranked second in importance as a 

 food of fur seals in the Bering Sea in 1964. 

 The frequency of walleye pollock occurrence 

 has declined in the stomachs of fur seals from 

 the Bering Sea in the past few years; it was 

 found in 109 of 229 stomachs containing food 

 (48 percent) in 1960, 126 of 616 (20 percent) 

 in 1962, 56 of 816 (9 percent) in 1963, and in 

 40 of 369 stomachs (11 percent) in 1964. The 

 decline of this species as a fur seal food in 

 the Bering Sea suggests that the population 

 has been reduced, although we have no data to 

 support this suggestion. 



The records of volume and frequency of 

 occurrence in seal stomachs indicate that 

 predation by seals on commercially important 

 species in the eastern Pacific is negligible. 



SUMMARY 



The seventh year of research on fur seals 

 at sea under the Interim Convention on Conser- 

 vation of North Pacific Fur Seals was con- 

 ducted off California, Oregon, Washington, and 

 Alaska in 1964. 



Except for a few days off Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, the chartered purse seine vessel, 

 M/V Harmony , worked mainly off California 

 in April and May, to determine distribution, 

 abundance, food, and late nnigration and move- 

 ments of fur seals. Operations in Bering Sea 

 in July, August, and September provided infor- 

 mation on distribution and abundance of seals 

 from the Aleutian Islands north to the Pribilof 

 Islands, and on feeding grounds to the east, 

 north, and west of the Pribilof Islands. 



Observations began off California 11 April 

 and ended 28 May. Some seals were still 

 present off the central California coast between 

 Cape San Martin and Pt. San Luis in mid- 

 April. This area was a major wintering ground 

 in January, February, and March 1959 and 

 1961. The Farallon and Eureka grounds off 

 California were surveyed periodically in 1964. 

 In general, fur seals were restricted to 

 smaller areas and fewer seals were counted 

 in April and May than during January to 

 March in 1958, 1959, and 1961. 



Studies in the eastern Bering Sea extended 

 from 4 July to 8 September. Sumnner distri- 

 bution of fur seals in the Bering Sea was 

 similar to that in 1962 and 1963. 



19 



