EXPERIMENTAL HARVEST OF THE STELLER SEA LION 



IN ALASKAN WATERS 



by 



Fredrik V. Thorsteinson, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau, Alaska 



Richard W. Nelson, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Seattle, Wash. 



Dexter F. Lall, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kodiak, Alaska* 



ABSTRACT 



During the summer of 1959, a commercialfishing company, vmder 

 contract to the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, conducted an experi- 

 mental harvest of the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubata) inAlaska. 

 During the expedition, 616 sea lions were killed of which 464 were 

 ultimately processed. The yield was ZOO tons of ground meat and 9 tons 

 of whole livers, which was packaged in 50-pound bags, frozen, and sold 

 through established commercial channels to fur farmers for feeding 

 mink. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias 

 jubata) has been widely condemned by 

 the fishing industry. Salmon, halibut, 

 and herring fishermen have been unani- 

 mous in their complaints about depre- 

 dations by this mammal. The persist- 

 ence and uniformity of the complaints 

 and concern over the declining salmon 

 pack in Alaska have led to recent in- 

 tensive study of the Steller sea lions 

 and their effects on the fisheries. 

 The Alaska Department of Fish and 

 Game and the Fisheries Research Insti- 

 tute of the University of Washington, 

 through contracts with the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries, have conducted 

 studies of the biology of sea lions and 

 have carried out surveys to study popu- 

 lation size, distribution, and seasonal 

 shifts in abundance. Mathisen (1958) 

 estimates there are at least 150,000 



' Formerly a Fishery Aid with the Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries, Juneau, Alaska. 



sea lions in Alaskan waters, most 

 of which are found on rookeries 

 located along the Alaska Peninsiila and 

 the Aleutian Islands. Individual rookery 

 counts vary from 25 to 15,000 animals. 



The two agencies making the 

 studies circulated questioiuiaires 

 throughout the fishing industry to docu- 

 ment the time, location, and nature of 

 dajTiage done by sea lions. Returns 

 from these questionnaires indicate that 

 salmon fishermen do suffer an economic 

 loss from sea lion activities, both in 

 damage to gear and by loss of fish 

 taken from the gear (Alaska Department 

 of Fish and Game, 1957). 



Halibut fishermen report that at 

 times sea lions damage or remove so 

 majiy fish from their gear that it is 

 not profitable to remain on the halibut 

 banks. A sample poll of halibut vessels 

 by the Inter nationail Pacific Halibut 

 Commission in 1958 brought out that 

 an estimated 1.3 million povinds of hali- 

 but were damaged or destroyed on the 



