252 



Reasons for decline.— This species has apparently always been rare ; there 

 probably has been no decline in recent years. 



Protective measures already taken. — None. 



Measures proposed. — None at present. 



Numbers in captivity. — Unknown. 



Jirpcdina notential in captivity. — Unknown. 



Referenccs^Mlen. G. M m2: 447-149; Allen, J. A. 1880: 67^82; Brooks, 

 James W. 1963. Management and status of marine mammals in Alaska Trans 

 N. Amer. Wildl. & Nat. Res. Conf. 28: 314-326; Kenyon and SchefEer, 1955: 23, 

 Scheffer, 1058 : 103. 



Mr. Pollock. Mr. Chairman, I think it would be appropriate to 

 say there are no regulations on a number of these because there is 



simply no taking. .,. .i • ^u ^ t 



There are no people in the area that utilize these species that 1 



gather the counsel is concerned about. 

 The natives will harvest a limited amount of them in the winter 



months. ^ _ . , ... 



Mr. DiNGELL. As I understand, though, the idea ot bounty is to 

 shoot the thing as a varmint and present an ear or some other part 

 and get your bounty. . • n n i 



Mr. Pollock. But Mr. Chairman, the bounty is not paid all along 

 the coastline of Alaska, only in limited areas. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Well, I think the Alaska game regulations go to 

 that particular point. It says sea lions 



Mr. Potter. Mr. Chairman, referring to the regulations and to the 

 map it appears that bounties are paid on hair seals for inland and 

 coastal waters of Alaska, 159° W. longitude or north of 69° N. latitude 

 and that essentially is as I read it, the waters from Bristol Bay north. 



Mr. DiNGELL. As I read 159° longitude it hits Alaska about 

 Perryville. 



Mr. Pollock. May I have Mr. Kirkness make a comment ? 



Mr. Kirkness is our acting director for resource management in 

 the fisheries service, but he was formerly the commissioner for fish 

 and game for the State of Alaska and could probably answer your 

 question with some degree of specificity. 



Mr. DiNGELL. As I note 58 degrees would cover practically the 

 entire Alaska Peninsula south of a place called Egegik. 



Mr. Kirkness. At one time the bounty system on seals was through- 

 out Alaska and the biologist working on this requested many times 

 it be abandoned because it was a waste of money since the system 

 did not reduce seal population but merely kept them in a healthy 

 state. The legislature did, some years ago, remove the bounty in 

 most of Alaska but left it in Arctic Alaska from about Togiak on 

 up the Northwest Coast. This was kef)t primarily as the monetary 

 basis to ))ump a little money into the local economy since the Natives 

 up there have a very low income. 



When the Natives harvest an animal, not only do they get the 

 meat and skin and make things to sell to tourists, but also they get 

 a $3 bounty, and it was left in the Arctic Alaska, on around the 

 northern area. 



As Mr. Pollock said, the reason there are no regulations on many 

 species is because these species are what you could call a saturated 

 population, hardly utilized, but they are utilized by a small segment 

 of the population largely throughout the year. 



