166 



U.S. Department of the Intebiob, 



Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 



Washington, D.C., October 5, 1971. 

 Hon. John D. Dinoell, 



Chairman, Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation, Committee on 

 Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Dingell : This is in response to your letter regarding an article in the 

 Anchorage Daily News about wasted walrus carcasses. We are aware of this 

 problem w'hich results from traditional and admittedly inefficient methods of 

 harvest. 



Under the Alaska Statehood Act of 1959. jurisdiction over that State's resident 

 wildlife for the purpose of management and regulation was given to the State of 

 Alaska. However, we would certainly favor regulations which would result in 

 more humane and efficient harvesting of walrus. The improvidence of the 

 Alaskan Eskimos in their harvest of the walrus is well known, and is a feature 

 of their life way which seems to have been heightened as a consequence of their 

 contact with the white man's technology. 



As you know, we have conducted research on walrus in Alaska. Despite the 

 wastefulness of native hunting methods, total harvest, including unretrieved 

 animals, appears to be well within proper limits. A study completed recently by 

 the Alaska Fish and Game Department estimates the walrus population at a 

 minimum of 90,000 animals, of which about 12,000 are taken annually by Ameri- 

 can and Russian hunters. It pointed out that the Pacific walrus population is 

 apparently increasing slowly. 



Alaska provides complete protection for the walrus along the coastal area 

 surrounding Bristol Bay, but in other Alaskan waters and coastal areas walrus 

 may be taken anytime. A resident is allowed one bull, except where he is depend- 

 ent upon the walrus for food. In that case there is no limit upon the number of 

 bulls he may take, and he may also take up to five adult cows or subadults (either 

 sex) as well as orphaned calves to satisfy this need. 



It is our understanding that "random firing into the herds" is less of a prob- 

 lem than the use of underpowered weapons. Wounded animals escape from ice 

 floes and they are then lost. Thus the problem is not one of willful negligence but 

 of insufficient equipment and/or expertise in harvest techniques. As previously 

 stated, however, harvest regulations are considered to be within the province of 

 State authority. 



Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. 

 Sincerely yours, 



M. A. Mabston, 

 Assistant to the Director. 



Mr. Dingell. Is walrus within your jurisdiction or within 

 Commerce ? 



Dr. LiNDUSKA. That is in Commerce. Research management and 

 enforcement actually rests with the State. 



Mr. Dingell. May be you want to give us a comment, Mr. Hansen. 



Mr. Hansen. I am not sure the number of walrus that may have 

 washed ashore this year is any more or less than in any other year. 



This has to do with the native harvest, native utilization, their 

 method of hunting. 



Now, as you know, they hunt these animals on the ice floe. The 

 walrus follow the ebb and flow of the Arctic ice pack. The Eskimo 

 hunts them on the edge of the ice, and for every animal they shoot, 

 they hunt them with modern weapons, and for every one they shoot 

 and are able to retrieve, unfortunately, there are animals that are shot 

 and lost. They fall off the ice into the water and sink before the 

 natives can get to them and retrieve them. 



These are the animals that subsequently bloat and drift ashore as 

 tlie ice moves on northward. Winds out of the west drift them up onto 

 the Alaska coastline. 



