184 



Tliis morninfr there was some comment about the fur seal herd's 



havinc declined. , . , , . , . x 



I confess not bein^ absolutelv up to date at the present time, but 1 

 know that in the mid-1960's the scientists of member countries had 

 decided that the fur seal herd was too large and we deliberately re- 

 duced the lierd, including deliberate killing of some females in order 

 to bring the herd down to the level where it would produce the maxi- 

 mum vi*eld of young, viable seals per year. 



In my judgment, the fur seal population will fluctuate from year 

 to vear/but is under excellent management. 



A great deal is known about it, and some of the very best marme 

 sciendsts this countn' has ever produced have worked on fur seals. 



Mr Pelly. In the' event of an absolute prohibition under mtema- 

 tionai law, what might be the effect of overpopulation we will say of 

 these herds and other marine mammals and the devastation that might 

 be visited on other resources such as the salmon ? 



Mr. McKerxax. Well in the first place I do not belieA'e, and I do 

 not accept the hypothesis that other nations would refrain from taking 

 fur seals, particularly if the herd is in as good condition as the scien- 

 tists say. . 



Therefore. I do not think that there would be a total ban even if the 

 United States wanted it on fur seal hunting. 



Assuming that there was, it seems to me that we have had quite a 

 lot of experience with fur seals, and as I recall the papers of the past 

 15 or 20 years, what happens is we have a vers' high pup mortality, and 

 manv of the females are barren when the iwpulation gets too large- 



Xow the last information I had, this was not too well understood, 

 but nevertheless it does occur, and by the way, it tends to occur in 

 other animal populations where there is overcrowding, the fertility is 

 decreased and mortality, particularly infant mortality, is increased. 



That has been the case, and scientific information has shown that to 

 be the case with fur seals, as well. 



Mr. Pellt. ]My question had to do with the effect on the salmon. 

 !Mr. McKerxax. I see. 



Mr. Pellt. As you know, you fly over where the salmon are all 

 getting together and about to go upstream and you see the seals in 

 great abundance, at least I am not sure thev are fur seals, but thev are 

 seals in Puget Sound, and off the Fraser River. 



They certainly kill, and by just taking a bite out of a salmon de- 

 stroys it, and I thought perhaps it would be detrimental to the salmon 

 that is so important for food and the economy of the natives to balance 

 these seal herds and to control them in a way so it is not too damaging 

 to the fisheries. 



Mr. McKerxax. I agree with you. I think the point that Mr. Talbot 

 made this morning is a valid one. 



One must try and provide some balance in nature, and if seals in 

 particular and sea lions and some other mammals are not kept in some 

 balance by appropriate reductions in their abundance, we may have 

 problems. 



In my judgment it is best to appropriately and conservatively man- 

 age the environment as a whole. In recent years, for example, the 

 beluga, the small white whale that is circumpolar in occurrence has 

 been in abundance. The natives, some of the natives in Alaska, no 



