224 



Japan and Canada 30 percent share Value to Japan 

 Year of skins and Canada 



1961. 

 1962. 

 1962. 

 1964. 

 1965. 

 1966. 

 1967. 

 1968. 

 1969. 

 1970. 



The value of the Japanese and Canadian share of the harvest in any year is 

 based on the average sale price for the same year. In actuality, however, the 

 skins are not sold until about two years after they are harvested. This is due 

 to the lengthy prot-essing time required to process quantities sufficient for sale 

 puri>oses. 



Question No. 11. If you know, how many seals were killed hy pelagic hunting 

 for each of the past ten years? 



Answer. No i)elagic commercial sealing has been permitted since 1911. The 

 following table shows the number of seals collected on the high seas during 

 1961-1970 strictly for research purposes. These collections are reported annually 

 by the scientific committee of the international North Pacific Fur Seal 

 Commission. 



Year United States Canada U.S.S.R. Japan Total 



1961... 



1962. 



1963 



1964 



1965. - 



1966 



1967.... 



1968 



1969 _. ___. 



1970._ 



Total 7,637 2.663 3,882 9,938 24,120 



Question No. 12. What is the justification for continuing to drive the seals 

 inland for the killing? 



Answer. Seals to be harvested are driven relatively short distances inland 

 from the hauling grounds primarily for several reasons. Harvesting operations 

 conducted next to a hauling ground would in turn create excessive disturbance 

 among breeding animals on the adjacent rookery. Secondly, the harvesting 

 grounds must be accessible by truck. 



Question No. 13. What is believed to have been the sisc of this herd before 

 commercial operations began? What has been the low point of the seal population? 



Answer. See number 3 above for discussion on natural population. The lowest 

 lK)pulation level was in 1911 when it was estimated at about 200,000. 



Question No. IJf. Of the current population, what is believed to be the number 

 of (a) harem bulls, (6) bachelor males, (c) females of breeding age, and (d) pups 

 {seals up to three years old) ? 



Answer. Information is contained in the table provided in reply to number 5 

 above. The population estimates in the subject table are made after the harvest 

 and after all pups are born. Normally we estimate there are between 10,000 and 

 20,000 harem bulls and 60,000 to 80,000 bachelor males. The harvest consists of a 

 specified number of bachelor males. The harem bulls would be included in the 

 90,000 figure for males ^ 3 years, but not those bachelor males which have been 

 harvested. The 1970 harvest was about 42,121 bachelor males predominantly in 

 the 3-4 year age class. 



Question No. 15. What guidelines have been set, if any, for the killing of 

 females? 



Answer. Our answer to question 6(c) generally explains the overall program 

 of manipulating the population level by removal of females from the herd. 

 Guidelines for use in deciding numbers of females to take are: (1) That with 



