211 



I have Mr. George Harrj% director of the Marine Mammal Biology 

 Laboratory from Seattle. 



I also have Dr. William Perrin, the fisheries biologist at Central 

 Pacific Research Center in California. 



There are others, but these are the main people I wanted to introduce 

 at this juncture. 



Mr. Pelly. I am glad to see the west coast is well represented. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Gentlemen, we are happy to welcome you to the 

 committee. 



Mr. Pollock, we are happy to recognize you for your statement 

 at this time. 



Mr. Pollock. For the record, as a former member of this commit- 

 tee, it is a particular pleasure to be here today to discuss the marine 

 mammal matter in the legislation which has been introduced by so 

 many Members of the Congress. 



During the past several years public attention throughout the 

 United States has been drawn in a dramatic fashion to the problem 

 of conservation of marine mammals. In particular, strong public con- 

 cern has been voiced with respect to the preservation of those marine 

 mammals which appear to be threatened with extinction, and the 

 question of the use of humane techniques for harvesting commercially 

 important species. We of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 

 ministration (NOAA) want to assure the committee that we share 

 each of these concerns and are deeply committed to the enlightened 

 conservation and management of marine mammals. We believe this 

 concern is amply demonstrated by our past activities. Moreover, be- 

 cause we are continually seeking ways to improve the conservation 

 of these mammals, we have submitted to the committee our recom- 

 mendations for a revised vereion of H.R. 10420 which, in our judg- 

 ment, would provide the appropriate kinds of regulatory and research 

 authority to supplement existing legislation and assist us in further- 

 ing the conservation of these animals. 



Before discussing our proposed revision of H.R. 10420, however, 

 w^e would like to briefl}^ examine our activities to date on behalf of 

 marine mammals so as to dispel some of the misunderstandings sur- 

 rounding this subject. 



NOAA is responsible under the Fur Seal Act of 1966 for the man- 

 agement of the northern Paicific fur seal harvest carried out on the 

 Pribilof Islands off the coast of Alaska. This program has been one 

 of the most successful international conservation efforts ever mounted. 

 Firet, it has saved the fur seal from the threat of extinction. Prior to 

 the inauguration of this program in 1911, these animals were hunted 

 indiscriminately on the high seas without regard to sex, age, or season 

 of the year, with the result that their numbei-s had dwindled to a 

 mere 200,000. Today, under strict controls, the fur seal populatioai 

 has risen to approximately 1,200,000, a figure which is near the esti- 

 mated optimum of from 1.5 to 1.8 million. Public statements by a few 

 individuals to the effect that the present population has declined sub- 

 stantially from its size in the 1930's and 1940's are founded on mis- 

 information. An analysis of the methods used by the Governmejit in 

 estimating the population figures for those years shows that the pub- 

 lished estimates were much too high and did not reflect the actual 

 situation. 



