Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



This work was supplemented by cooperative studies 

 with Native organizations, universities in the United 

 States, and research institutes in Japan and Russia. 



In 1995 the Service provided $291,000 for fur seal 

 research, significantly increasing the research budget 

 for the species. In 1996 and 1997 the Service provid- 

 ed $209,000 and $286,000, respectively. In 1998 the 

 Service provided no money specifically for fur seal 

 research; however, using funding from other pro- 

 grams, the Service was able to continue basic popula- 

 tion monitoring work and cooperative studies. 

 Among the cooperative research projects continued 

 from 1995 and 1996 were disease studies, maternity 

 smdies, and monitoring population trends and mortali- 

 ty at rookeries on the Pribilof Islands for possible 

 impacts associated with discharges from seafood 

 processing plants on the islands. During the summer 

 of 1999 the Service intends to initiate a contaminants 

 study to assess pollution in the vicinity of the islands. 

 The Service has also continued to monitor marine 

 debris entanglement rates among juvenile male fur 

 seals returning to the rookeries after their first few 

 years at sea. The juvenile entanglement rates in 1997 

 were similar to those observed in 1996: 0.19 percent 

 on St. Paul Island and 0.23 percent on St. George 

 Island. In 1998 the Service trained Natives to moni- 

 tor entanglement rates during the subsistence harvest. 

 Entanglement data for 1998 are still being processed. 



As noted earlier, the decline in fur seal numbers 

 during the mid-1970s through the early 1980s was 

 linked to a decrease in juvenile survival. To help 

 assess factors affecting juvenile survival rates, the 

 Service is continuing studies begun in 1995 to investi- 

 gate the proportion of time pups spend at sea and on 

 land before departure from the rookeries to begin their 

 one- to two-year period of life at sea. In 1996 the 

 Service also experimented with the deployment of 

 lightweight satellite tags on fur seal pups to determine 

 their migration routes and at-sea habitat-use patterns. 

 Based on the success of this work, 12 satellite trans- 

 mitters were placed on fur seal pups in 1997. The 

 results documented movements into various parts of 

 the North Pacific Ocean. The Service initially 

 planned to continue this sUidy through 1999; however, 

 no funds were available to do so in 1998. The 

 1996-1997 data analyses for the satellite transmitter 

 work are in progress. 



Pacific Walrus 

 (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) 



At the time of the last rangewide population survey 

 in 1990, more than 200,000 Pacific walruses were 

 thought to inhabit the continental shelf of the Bering 

 and Chukchi Seas off Alaska and eastern Russia 

 (Figure 9). Since 1990 no information has been 

 collected with which to assess overall population size 

 and trends. Genetic studies indicate that they consti- 

 tute a single stock, most of which migrate north and 

 south with the seasonal advance and retreat of the 

 pack ice as it melts in spring and refreezes in winter. 

 In spring, however, some walruses, principally adult 

 males, move south into Bristol Bay, where they 

 remain throughout the summer. Walruses feed almost 

 exclusively on benthic invertebrates, principally 

 clams. When this prey is scarce, they may also eat 

 fish or ringed, spotted, and bearded seals. 



Since the 1860s Pacific walruses have undergone at 

 least three cycles of depletion due to excessive com- 

 mercial hunting. The stock was first depleted by 

 Yankee whalers in the 1870s. After a period of 

 recovery, it again was depleted by U.S., Canadian, 

 and Norwegian hunters early in the 1900s. A second 

 period of recovery occurred between 1910 and the 

 1930s, after which the stock was depleted a third time 

 by Russian hunters shortly before and after World 

 War II. Under conservation programs administered 

 by the State of Alaska and the Soviet Union in the 

 1950s and 1960s, the population recovered to current 

 levels, which may be at or near their pre-exploitation 

 population levels. 



Pacific walruses are vital cultural and subsistence 

 resources for Native people in both Alaska and the 

 Chukotka Peninsula in easternmost Russia. When 

 walruses were depleted in the 1870s, their scarcity 

 contributed to the widespread starvation and death of 

 people in Native villages around the Bering Sea. 

 Since then coastal communities have continued to rely 

 on walruses for food as well as ivory, which is 

 worked into traditional articles of Native handicraft 

 and sold. In addition to providing food and income 

 from the sale of ivory carvings, walrus hunting is an 

 important part of maintaining Native cultural tradi- 

 tions. 



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