Table 6. Estimated annual harvests of Pacific 
walruses in Alaska and the Soviet Un- 
ion, 1970 to 1989' 
Alaska Soviet Total 
Year Harvest Harvest Harvest 
1970 1,422 988 2,410 
1971 1,915 897 2,812 
1972 1,325 1,518 2,843 
1973 1,581 1,291 2,872 
1974 1,410 1,205 2,615 
1975 2,378 1,265 3,643 
1976 2,989 1,253 4,242 
1977 2,377 1,461 3,838 
1978 2,224 2,120 4,344 
1979 2,745 1,526 4,271 
1980 2,625 2,653 5,278 
1981 3,518 2,574 6,092 
1982 2,557 3,569 6,126 
1983 2,261 3,946 6,207 
1984 4,930 4,424 9,354 
1985 3,903 4,708 8,611 
1986 3,205 3,884 7,089 
1987 2,735 4,673 7,408 
1988 2,567 3,974 6,541 
1989 1,008 3,679 4,687 
1 This table is based on data collected through harvest 
monitoring programs conducted by the Alaska Depart- 
ment of Fish and Game from 1970 through 1979 and by 
the Fish and Wildlife Service from 1980 through 1989. 
Alaska harvest estimates for 1978-1989 were extrapolated 
from a subsample of catches at selected villages. 
action on a number of walrus research and manage- 
ment issues. Follow-up to those recommendations 
and other matters are discussed below. 
Planning for Future Population Surveys — In 
light of the poor results of the 1990 joint U.S.- 
U.S.S.R. walrus survey, the Commission’s December 
1991 letter recommended that another walrus survey 
be undertaken as soon as possible and that a planning 
meeting be held to determine the least expensive way 
to obtain useful estimates of the walrus population size 
and trends. At the end of 1992 it was the Commis- 
sion’s understanding that the Service, through a 
47 
Chapter III — Species of Special Concern 
cooperative research agreement with the University of 
Maine, was completing an analysis of the effectiveness 
of aerial surveys for estimating the size of the walrus 
population. The results suggest that the utility of 
population-wide censuses may be limited and that 
alternative methods of detecting population changes 
are needed. To assess the matter further, the Service 
is considering the possibility of convening a meeting 
of scientists in 1993 to examine results of the analysis. 
Given the high cost of range-wide surveys and limited 
funding for walrus research and management activities 
in Russia as well as in the United States, the earliest 
possible date for another census appears to be 1995, 
assuming it is determined to be an effective means of 
population assessment. 
Other Research — In 1992 the Service’s research 
efforts were devoted to synthesizing available data 
from U.S.-U.S.S.R pinniped research cruises from the 
early 1970s through 1991. Among other things, the 
data are being used to assess age-specific reproduc- 
tion, blubber thickness, and other indices of the 
condition of the walrus population. Tissue samples 
from walruses taken during subsistence and commer- 
cial harvests in U.S. and Russian areas were analyzed 
using genetic research techniques to identify possible 
stock differences. Also, a handbook was under 
development to standardize methods for collecting and 
analyzing reproductive tracts. The Service’s field 
research in 1992 was limited to (1) a cooperative 
study with Norwegian scientists to test new satellite 
transmitters for tracking walruses and (2) continued 
cooperation with the State of Alaska and the Togiak 
National Wildlife Refuge staff to monitor walrus 
haulout patterns on Cape Peirce and Round Island in 
northern Bristol Bay. 
Fisheries Interactions — The Commission’s 
December 1991 letter also repeated a recommendation 
made several times in the past that the Service pursue 
actions to close waters to commercial groundfish 
trawlers out to three miles around walrus haulout 
grounds in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. As 
discussed in previous annual reports, noise from 
groundfish trawlers operating near walrus haulout 
beaches on Round Island, Cape Peirce in the Togiak 
National Wildlife Refuge, and certain other beaches in 
northern Bristol Bay may have caused declines in the 
number of walruses hauling out at those locations. 
