MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION - Annual Report for 1998 



the Walrus Commission. As indicated above, in 1998 

 the Eskimo Walrus Commission continued to help 

 facilitate monitoring of the Alaska Native walrus 

 harvest and it served as a co-convener for a workshop 

 on harvest monitoring programs in the United States 

 and Russia. In addition, the Walrus Commission 

 distributed information on walrus conservation issues 

 and needs to the Native community and developed an 

 incentive program to encourage Native hunters to 

 provide information and walrus tissue samples to 

 walrus harvest monitors. 



Late in 1998 the Service provided $80,000 to the 

 Eskimo Walrus Commission to continue cooperative 

 efforts in 1999. The money will be used to help 

 maintain its efforts to disseminate information on 

 walrus conservation needs, encourage cooperation by 

 Native hunters with the walrus harvest monitoring 

 program, and participate in meetings and deliberations 

 regarding walrus research and management plans and 

 the reauthorization of the Marine Mammal Protection 

 Act. The Walrus Commission also plans to devote 

 particular attention to (1) the negotiation of walrus 

 conservation agreements between the Native commu- 

 nities in Russia and Alaska, (2) the development of 

 effective policies and strategies among tribal govern- 

 ments in key walrus hunting villages on managing the 

 walrus harvest and improving compliance with the 

 marking, tagging, and reporting program, and (3) 

 providing support to the Bristol Bay Native Associa- 

 tion (also called the Qayassic Walrus Commission) for 

 managing and monitoring subsistence walrus hunts at 

 Round Island in Bristol Bay. 



Pacific Walrus Research Activities 



As indicated above, the best available information 

 indicates that the Pacific walrus population numbers at 

 least 188,000 walruses and probably more than 

 200,000. Reliable estimates of population size and 

 population trends are fundamental for making in- 

 formed decisions with regard to subsistence hunting 

 and other matters. However, the best available data 

 in this regard are based on four rangewide surveys 

 conducted jointly at five-year intervals by U.S. and 

 Russian researchers beginning in 1975. The last of 

 these surveys was conducted in 1990. No surveys 

 have been undertaken since because of the expense 

 (they require extensive aircraft and ship support in 



remote areas of the Chukchi Sea) and economic 

 constraints, particularly in Russia where virtually all 

 government funding for walrus research and manage- 

 ment has been eliminated in recent years. A compara- 

 ble survey today could cost $1.5 million. 



There also has been a reluctance to consider further 

 rangewide surveys because of fundamental sampling 

 problems that make it difficult to develop a reliable 

 population estimate from survey results or to compare 

 survey results between years. For example, reliable 

 methods have not been found to extrapolate a popula- 

 tion estimate from survey counts because of uncertain- 

 ty regarding at-sea walrus distribution patterns and the 

 proportion of animals along a trackline that may be 

 submerged as a survey plane or ship passes. 



The situation has left the Service in the difficult 

 position of relying on an estimate of population size 

 derived from a rangewide survey that is scientifically 

 weak and becoming increasingly out of date. At the 

 same time, it has no sound alternative approach to 

 develop a more accurate estimate of overall populafion 

 size or trends. The situation has been exacerbated by 

 limited funding that has been insufficient to support 

 research to resolve sampling problems, conduct 

 effective population surveys, or investigate alternative 

 monitoring approaches. 



Within these constraints, the Service has attempted 

 to monitor a segment of the walrus population that can 

 be observed relatively easily at low cost, while, at the 

 same time, developing techniques and information to 

 resolve fundamental sampling questions with regard to 

 walrus survey techniques. This has been done by 

 using most walrus research funding in recent years for 

 the study of walruses that occur in Bristol Bay during 

 the summer. Specifically, the Service and cooperating 

 agencies and groups have conducted counts of walrus- 

 es at most major haul-out sites in Bristol Bay and 

 developed a satellite tracking program to improve 

 information on at-sea habitat use patterns of walruses 

 using Bristol Bay. In 1998, as discussed below, 

 research in both areas was continued. In addition, a 

 study was undertaken in the northern portions of the 

 population's range to assess the age-sex composition 

 and reproductive success of the population. 



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