Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



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Figure 8. Range and breeding islands of the northern fur seal. 



The treaty lapsed during World War II, and by the 

 early 1950s the Pribilof Islands fur seal population 

 had swelled to about two million animals, a number 

 thought to be at or near its pre-exploitation size. 

 Beginning in 1956 some females as well as juvenile 

 males were taken. This harvesting strategy was 

 developed under a prevailing wildlife management 

 theory that predicted after an initial decline in fur seal 

 numbers, pup production and survival would increase 

 as the population attempted to compensate for animals 

 removed by the harvest. 



This harvest was continued under the Interim 

 Convention for the Conservation of North Pacific Fur 

 Seals signed by the four signatories to the former 

 treaty, in 1957. As expected, the Pribilof Islands' 

 population began to decline, but instead of rebounding 

 a few years later, it continued to decline. The harvest 

 of females was therefore stopped in 1968. After a 

 continued decline through 1970, it began to increase 

 and reached a size of 1.25 million fur seals in 1974. 

 However, from 1976 through the early 1980s it again 

 declined for reasons that could no longer be attributed 



to the earlier female harvest. Estimated pup produc- 

 tion fell by about 7 percent per year over this period, 

 and by 1983 the population had declined to about 

 877,000 animals, less than one-half its size in the 

 early 1950s. Since 1983, fur seal colonies on St. Paul 

 Island have remained relatively stable, with about 

 180,000 pups born each year. Colonies on St. 

 George Island, however, continued to decrease by 4 

 or 5 percent per year until 1996, when they increased 

 by 6 percent. In 1998 the St. George Island colony 

 again declined by 4 to 5 percent. Based on surveys 

 conducted on the Pribilof Islands and San Miguel 

 Island in 1994, 1996, and 1998, and a 1997 census at 

 Bogoslov Island, the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service estimates the size of the fur seal herd in U.S. 

 waters to be about 1,005,000 individuals. 



The interim convention under which fur seals were 

 managed was extended by a series of protocols. In 

 1984 the convention lapsed, and management authori- 

 ty in the United States reverted to domestic authority 

 under the Fur Seal Act of 1966 and the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Under these acts. 



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