319 



vention is repealed other nations could renew their pelagic sealing efforts, thus 

 not only diverting income from the Pribilof Islanders to foreign nationals but 

 also destroying the scientific management program which has restored the herd. 

 For the^e reasons, I urge you not to endorse or co-sponsor S. 1315 or legislation 

 similar to it. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me or have 

 a member of your staff contact my Legislative Assistant Mr. John Katz, on 

 Extension 530O4. 

 With best wishes, 

 Cordially, 



Ted Stevens, 



U.S. Senator. 



The Aleut Communfty Couxcil. 

 St. Paul Island, Alaska, May 19, 1911. 



Dear Senator : On behalf of the 600 Aleut residents of St. Paul and St. 

 George, Pribilof Islands, we are writing to you about a bill known as the 

 "Ocean Mammal Protection Act" (S. 1315, H.R. 6558) which has been introduced 

 in this Congress. We urge you not to endorse or support this bad legislation. 



If you have been told that this bill \x\\\ benefit the Alaska fur seal, you have 

 been misled. Title III of the bill would bring about termination of the North 

 Pacific Fur Seal Convention. This would seriously endanger the herd and destroy 

 our only practical source of income. 



Why would anybody want to terminate a successful four-nation treaty which 

 has brought the fur seal from near extinction to what is now a healthy, 

 thriving population? Because a well-financed advertLsing campaign which plays 

 upon the emotions of well meaning people has vilified our people and the Pribilof 

 fur seal program, one of the most succes.sful international conservation pro- 

 grams ever undertaken. Do not be misled into believing that baby seals are 

 harvested on the Pribilof Islands, islo baby seals are ever harvested on the 

 Pribilof s. The Pribilof Island program should not be confused with one ad- 

 ministered by the Canadian Government in the islands of the St. Lawrence 

 River where baby hair seals are hai-vested. Do not be misled into believing that 

 clubbing the seals is inhumane. Extensive testing has failed to develop a quicker, 

 more painless method of harvest. 



The Pribilof Islands are the sole breeding grounds of the Alaska fur seal. 

 The seal si)ends most of the year in the open seas, migrating as far west as 

 Japan and as far south as the Mexican border. Prior to the 1^11 treaty the 

 herd had been reduced to about 120,000 because sealers indiscriminately hunted 

 in the open seas. Since the treaty was entered in 1911 sealing on the open seas 

 has been forbidden by the laws of the U.S., Canada, Japan and Ru.ssia. The 

 herd is now maintained at a level of about 1.3 million. These countries abstain 

 from taking seals on the high seas in return for a share of the annual regulated 

 harvest of nonbreeding bachelor males. 



The Aleut re.sidents of St. Paul and St. George are employed in the annual 

 han-est and in skinning and curing. These two communities repre.sent the largest 

 aggregation of our people in the world. The legislation would require our 

 people to disperse. It takes away our livelihood and gives us nothing practical 

 in return. 



The bill would also take away from the fur .s-eal the protection afforded by 

 the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention and give it no practical protection. In 

 place of the present convention the bill calls for an international agreement 

 to ban all killing at sea or on land. We frequently stand on shore and watch 

 vessels with Russian, Japanese and Korean flags fishing the waters of the Bering 

 Sea. Do you believe that if the present treaty were terminated North Korea 

 would agree to abstain from taking seals in return for nothing? 



The Aleut Community urges you not to support this very bad legislation. We 

 enclose a copy of a resolution and petition of the Aleut Commimity Council 

 which we have submitted to Senator Fred Harris, the chief sponsor of S. 1315, 

 requesting that he withdraw the bill. 



Jason Boubdukofsky, 

 President of the Aleut Co-mmunity Council, 

 Gabriel Stepitin, 

 Vice President of the Aleut Community Council. 



Enclosure. 



