Northern anchovy, which contributed 74 per- 

 cent of the total volun-ie of food of fur seals, 

 ranked ninth commercially in total tonnage 

 landed in 1964 (2,257 metric tons). This catch, 

 however, probably represents only a fraction 

 of the total possible yield for the species. 

 During the latest comn-iercial anchovy season 

 in California, which ended 30 April 1966, the 

 total landings (15,344 metric tons) fell well 

 below the 68,038-metric ton quota granted by 

 the California Fish and Game Comnnission 

 (Pacific Fishermen, 1966). This low catch was 

 not due to a scarcity of anchovies, but to the 

 reluctance of vessel owners to invest new 

 equipn^ent in an uncertain anchovy fishery. 



The food species that ranked second in im- 

 portance was Pacific hake, which contributed 

 19.8 percent of the total food volume. This 

 species is of negligible commercial impor- 

 tance off California (50.8 metric tons landed in 

 1964). Pacific saury is not fished commercially 

 off California. The present commercial har- 

 vest of Loligo opalescens (which ranked fifth 

 in total seal food volume off California) 

 probably represents only a small fraction 

 of the possible yield. 



Damage by fur seals to fishing gear is prac- 

 tically nonexistent, because seals usually re- 

 main well offshore where no commercial fish- 

 ing operations are in progress. 



SUMMARY 



The 9th year of pelagic fur seal research 

 under terms of the Interim Convention of North 

 Pacific Fur Seals was conducted off California 

 from 21 January to 25 March 1966. 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Pri- 

 bilof Islands supply vessel, M/V Pribilof . and 

 the chartered whale catcher, M/V Lynnann, 

 were used in the research. 



Distribution of seals was studied along 

 transect lines extending offshore 19 to 222 km. 

 (10 to 120 miles) at 37-km. (20-mile) intervals 

 between latitudes 32° N. and 38° N. Seal con- 

 centrations were usually found 37 to 130 km. 

 (20 to 70 miles) offshore over areas where 

 abrupt changes in depths occur along the Con- 

 tinental Shelf and over seavalleys and sea- 

 mounts. 



From 21 January to 25 March, an average of 

 42.9 seals were seen per boat-hunting day. 

 Single seals made up 31 percent of the total 

 number seen. Of 2,704 seals sighted, 444 were 

 collected. Females 5 years old or older were 

 dominant in the area during January to March; 

 males formed only a small part of the popula- 

 tion. Twenty- seven seals tagged on the Pribilof 

 Islands were recovered at sea. 



The following information on reproduction 

 was obtained. Fifty-two percent of the female 

 seals collected were gravid; the youngest was 

 a primiparous 4-year-old. Between ages 7 and 

 15 the pregnancy rate of seals varied by less 

 than 9 percent in a sample of 202 females. 

 Pregnancy occurred in the left and right 

 uterine horn with about equal frequency (51 

 percent in left horn) in 5,281 pregnant and 

 postparturient females (1958-66). Fifty-one 

 percent of 4,592 fetuses examined since 1958 

 were females. 



Fewer occurrences of algae and gooseneck 

 barnacles were noted on seals in 1966 than in 

 1965. 



A lanternfish ( Myctophum californiense ), a 

 sciaenid, and a squid ( Chiroteuthis veranyi ) 

 were recorded as seal food for the first time. 

 The northern anchovy, Ejigraulis mordax, was 

 the major food species (by volume) eaten by 

 seals off California. 



Predation by seals on commercialy im- 

 portant species appears negligible. Damage to 

 fishing gear is nonexistent because seals are 

 found well offshore where there is no com- 

 mercial fishing. 



LITERATURE CITED 



AKIMUSHKIN, I. I. 



1963. Golovonogie mollyuski morei SSSR. 

 (Cephalopods of the seas of the U. S. S. R.) 

 Izd. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Moskva, 233 pp. 

 (Translated by A. Mercado, Israel Pro- 

 gram for Scientific Translations, 

 223 pp., 1965.) 

 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



i960. Alistof common and scientific names 



of fishes from the United States and 



Canada. 2d ed. Its Spec. Publ. 2, 102 pp. 



ASHWORTH, U.S., G. D. RAMAIAH, and M. C. 



KEYES. 



1966. Species differences in the composition 



of milk with special reference to that of 



the northern fur seal. J. Dairy Sci. 



49: 1206-1211. 

 BARNHART, PEARCY SPENCER. 



1936. Marine fishes of southern California. 



Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 209 pp. 

 BERRY, S. S. 



1912. A review of the cephalopods of western 



North America. Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish. 



30: 267-336. 

 1914. The cephalopods of the Hawaiian 



Islands. U.S. Bur. Fish., Bull. 32: 257- 



362, 

 BOLIN, ROLF L. 



1939. A review of the myctophid fishes of 



the Pacific Coast of the United States 



67 



