315 



The U.S. aspect of the harvest is supervised closely by the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is limited by sound 

 conservation practices. 



The result has been not a decimation of the seal herd, but rather 

 a dramatic recovery of the herd since the inception of the treaty. 



Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I would submit that 

 the case against this treaty and the present aspects of the fur seal 

 harvest on the Pribilof Islands has not been made, and both should 

 remain unaffected by the present legislation. 



In conclusion, I would add only this: that my real hope is that 

 this topic is not shelved after the efforts of this year in response 

 to a sudden acknowledgement of a problem area. In this, as in every 

 other area of environmental protection, the key will be our commit- 

 ment to f ollowup our present actions. In the protection of ocean mam- 

 mals, this key will be extremely vital. 



Thank you. 



Mr. DiNGELL. We appreciate your views, Mr. Begich, and thank you 

 for your interest. 



Our next witness is the able Senator from Alaska, Senator Mike 

 Gravel. 



We're happy to have you with us. 



STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE GRAVEL, A SENATOR IN CONGRESS 



FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA 



Senator Gravel. Mr. Chairman, in recent months there has been a 

 much publicized campaign conducted by a group of people dedicated 

 to the preservation and protection of ocean mammals. While I applaud 

 their dedication to this serious problem, I take issue with the manner 

 in which their campaign is conducted. 



Wide distribution has been given to photographs depicting the gory 

 slaughter of baby seals and their mothers, captioned with misleading 

 references to the annual seal harvest in the Pribilof Islands. 



As a matter of fact, these photographs were taken on the Gulf of 

 the St. Lawrence in Canada — an area over which the United States 

 has no jurisdiction. 



The "legislation proposed today, H.R. 6558, has a very grave sig- 

 nificance to the State of Alaska generally, and the Aleut community 

 in particular, and I think the time has come to look at the facts. 



The Fur Seal Act of 1966 charged the Secretary of the Interior 

 with management of the seal harvest on the Pribilof Islands. Under 

 President Nixon's Reorganization Plan No. 4, jurisdiction was trans- 

 ferred to the Secretary of Commerce, and at present the NationaJ 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration supervises the harvest of 

 approximately 50,000 seals each year. 



The harvest is limited in large measure to nonbreeding bachelor 

 males between the ages of 3 and 4 years. 



Baby seals are not harvested. 



Females are taken only when it is in the best interests of the herd ; 

 that is, in order to maintain a population level their environment can 

 support. 



The harvest is conducted under the auspices of the North Pacific 

 Fur Seal Convention by international treaty between the United 



