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of the State of Alaska prevent the taking of sea otters inside the territorial 

 waters, except for the State controlled program. A very small number of marine 

 mammals are shot by fishermen who are protecting their catch and gear. While 

 it is true that a few are shot by irresponsible individuals, in violation of either 

 Federal or State laws, we believe the solution lies in improved enforcement of 

 the existing laws rather than the enactment of legislation banning the taking 

 of all marine mammals. In all these instances the numbers of animals involved 

 are insignificant in terms of total populations. Some marine mammals are taken 

 incidentally during commercial fishing operations. We believe that further re- 

 search is needed to determine the significance. 

 The enactment of H.R. 6554 would : 



1. Prevent the Aleuts, Eskimos, and Indians of several States, but primarily 

 Alaska, from following their present practice of selling both the skins of hair 

 seals and polar bears, and the carved walrus ivory which are excess to their 

 immediate needs, for a cash income. In many cases this cash income is a large 

 part of their total income. 



2. Prevent the State of Alaska from conducting the State controlled harvest of 

 the presently overpopulated colonies of sea otters. A number of Aleuts gain yearly 

 employment during this harvest in catching, skinning, and giving primary treat- 

 ment to the skins. This harvest has been carried out for about six years in vari- 

 ous areas of the Aleutian Islands where research has shown that overpopulations 

 of sea otters and resultant large dieoffs of these animals have occurred. 



3. Prevent the protection by commercial fishermen of their catch and gear 

 from the depredations of hair seals and sea lions. In several localities in Alaska 

 and the Northwest, hair seals and sea lions often do considerable damage resulting 

 in economic loss to fisherman by removing or damaging fish in their gear and 

 by tearing large holes in fishermen's nets. 



4. Prevent the harvest for food and profit of marine mammals, primarily harbor 

 seals, by the non-iaboriginal inhabitants of small coastal communities in Alaska 

 and the Northwest. Historically all peoples living in these areas have made use 

 of the local fish and wildlife for part of their subsistence and for a small cash 

 income. 



5. Negate the power of the several coastal States to regulate and manage 

 marine mammal species which reside primarily in State waters. These species 

 include sea otters, sea lions, and harbor seals. 



6. Probably result in the resumption of high seas sealing for northern fur 

 seals by several other countries thus reverting back to the unselective and de- 

 structive method of sealing which was utilized prior to the 1911 convention. 



Title III of the Act addresses itself entirely to the Pribilof fur seal and the 

 Aleuts who reside there. The northern fur seal has been the subject of the world's 

 outstanding example of international cooperation in conservation of living 

 resources (Interim Convention on the Consei^ation of North Pacific Fur Seals, 

 8 UST 2283, effective October 14, 1957). Under the auspices of the convention 

 first signed in 1911 the Pribilof fur seal herd has been brought from near ex- 

 tinction (less than 200,000 animals) to the present near optimum population of 

 about 1.3 million. This recovery was the result of scientific management of the 

 fur seal herd by prohibiting the harvest at sea (pelagic) and controlling the 

 harvest on land. On land it is possible to follow specific scientific recommendations 

 and procedures to maintain the fur seal population at its optimum level. At 

 present, only 3-5 year old male seals excess to the reproductive needs of the herd 

 are taken. At sea this kind of selectivity is not possible. There is no way to deter- 

 mine the age or sex of seal when it is swimming in the ocean. If a female seal, 

 with a pup back on the islands, is killed in the ocean, her pup will also die because 

 no other female seal vrill take care of it. Also many seals are either wounded 

 (to die later) or killed and not recovered from the ocean during the pelagic 

 sealing operations. 



This bill, if passed, would end this outstanding international conservation ef- 

 fort, and probably lead to the decimation of the fur seal herd itself. If the Con- 

 vention is permitted to expire in 1976 (as the bill provides) and the fur seal 

 herd is not fully utilized (as the bill provides) other countries might very likely 

 resume high seas (pelagic) sealing in order to supply the world market for fur 

 sealskins. Japan, for instance, is not likely to agree to a world ban on killing 

 fur seals when the European market can use the skins. Other nations. North 

 and South Korea, for example, which have not been involved in sealing might 

 consider it if the international pressure against it is gone by virtue of the Con- 

 vention being abolished. 



