Table 2. -- Proximate composition (in percent) of ground sea lion meat determined by 

 the method used by the Association of Official Agricultural Chennists 



Date and location Number of 



Moisture 



Oil 



Protein 



Ash 



of sample 



animals- 



Range 



Av. 



Range 



Av. 



Range 



Av. 



Range 



Av. 



74.1-74.7 74.4 4.5-4.8 4.6 19.7-20.4 20.1 1.2-1.2 1.2 



73.4-74.5 74.1 3.7-4.8 4.1 20.7-21.4 21.1 1.1-1.2 1.1 



71.7-72.9 72.4 4.9-6.9 5.8 20.7-21.6 21.1 1.1-1.2 1.2 



75.8-77,5 76.8 2.4-4.6 3.2 18.2-18.9 18.6 1.6-1.7 1.6 



71.6-74.0 72.6 4.9-7.7 6.3 19.3-21.4 20.4 1.1-1.2 1.1 



74.3-75.5 74.8 4.0-5.1 4.5 20.1-20.6 20.3 1.2-1.3 1.2 



72.3-74.7 73.8 4.0-7.1 5.7 18.4-19.9 19.0 1.0-1.1 1.0 



73.6-74.6 73.9 3.9-4.8 4.3 20.3-21.8 20.9 1,1-1.2 1.2 



73.4-74.7 74.0 3.4-5.4 4.4 20.8-21.7 21.1 1.1-1.2 1.1 



73.0-74.5 73.8 4.5-5.4 4.9 19.4-20.3 19.8 1.1-1.2 1,2 



l_l Indicates the number of carcasses being processed at the time the sample was taken. The meat 

 from all of these was combined during processing. 



2/ Shoulder meat only. The shoulders were removed from 12 carcasses on June 7 and from 15 carcasses 



on June 8, and were held in refrigerated sea water at 32° F. until June 11. Then the meat was 

 trimmed from the shoulders, ground, and packaged. 



June 1 1 when the meat was trimmed 

 off, ground, and packaged. The higher 

 moisture content of this meat com- 

 pared with the other samples in table 2 

 indicates that water was picked up by 

 the meat during the immersion in sea 

 water. The high ash content indicates 

 that salt was absorbed from the sea 

 water. 



Disposition of Sea Lion Meat 



With the exception of a small por- 

 tion retained for experimental pur- 

 poses, all the sea lion meat and liver 

 packaged was sold to fur farmers in 

 the Pacific Northwest for use as mink 

 food. The frozen, ground meat was sold 

 through a commercial distributor for 

 10 cents a pound; livers 12 cents. 

 Three frozen carcasses were sold for 7 

 cents a pound. 



The meat might also be marketed 

 for use in zoos, as pet foods, and per- 

 haps in fish culture. These uses would 

 be dependent upon tests for nutritional 



value and palatability and an assured 

 stable supply of the raw product. 



DISCUSSION 



Surveys conducted by the Fish- 

 eries Research Institute and the Alaska 

 Department of Fish and Game indicate 

 that the numbers of sea lions in Alas- 

 kan waters are great enough to support 

 a commercial operation. The Arctic 

 Maid expedition experienced no diffi- 

 culty in killing, in retrieving animals 

 from the beach, or in transporting 

 them to the mothership. From the 

 standpoint of availability of the raw 

 product, and providing that facilities 

 for processing can be improved, the 

 potential for a commercial operation 

 is high. 



The production of sea lion meat 

 by the Arctic Maid expedition was 

 limited by processing problems. The 

 major limiting factor was butchering. 

 The large size of the carcasses made 



11 



