459 



Mr. Potter. Let's take the pinnipeds. 



Some material has already been inserted into the record from 

 portions of the Alaska Hunting and Guide Regulations, 1970-71 edi- 

 tion, that indicates in Alaska from Bristol Bay north there is no 

 closed season or bag limit for any hair seals. ( See p. 250 for informa- 

 tion mentioned.) 



I would say that at best that indicates no regulation at all. 



Mr. Burns. Mr. Potter, I would reply only with regard to the 

 setting of seasons and bag limits they are set in response to the 

 population, the status of the population, the resource that we are con- 

 cerned with. 



As you could also see from those regulations we have closed seasons 

 on harbor seals in units 1 through 5. 



We also have closed seasons or a bag limit I should say on walrus 

 in units 18, 22, 23, and 26. 



With regard to the hair seals, including those only in the area north 

 of Cape Constantine, the ring seal, the bearded seal, the ribbon seal 

 and the ice-breeding harbor seal, that hunting at the level under taking 

 for subsistence purposes by Alaskan residents will not endanger these 

 stocks. 



Mr. Potter. Am I correct that the ribbon seal is listed by the De- 

 partment of Interior at the present time as rare ? 



Mr. Burns. The ribbon seal, Mr. Potter, yes. The ribbon seal is listed 

 by the Department of Interior as rare. 



This is a species which is unavailable for purposes of investigation 

 except by access, ship access and that being ice reinforced ships in- 

 cluding either icebreakers or research vessels. 



Incidentally, we would support wholeheartedly the plea of my col- 

 leagues earlier this morning for the acquisition or availability of the 

 vessels necessary to conduct on an intergrated basis research into the 

 northern pinnipeds. 



To get back to the ribbon seals, it was not until 1961, as a matter of 

 fact that I could convince some of my colleagues that there were any 

 more than just a few remnants and remaining populations of ribbon 

 seals. 



We have, over the years, had occasion to get into the central Bering 

 Sea during the time of the year when they were most obvious to see. 



Certainly, it was a striking change in thinking with regard to 

 abundance. 



Much of our information concerning tihe ribbon seal is contained in 

 the literature of the Soviet scientists as you are well aware. 



There are harvest statistics for 1962 which indicate a quota ^tab- 

 lished and, incidentally, it is rather interesting, a quota established 

 for the sealing fleet operating west of approximately St. Mathew 

 Island of 15,000 ribbon seals harvested, at the same time when Ameri- 

 can investigators never even had the basic access to see where they 

 were. 



T^Hiat I am driving at is the population frankly from aU indications, 

 including the view of the Soviet literature, our own observations indi- 

 cate that the lowest populations we have seen and the poorest hunt- 

 ing success on the part of the commercial Soviet hunters occurred in 

 1962 and 1963. 

 They have drastically curtailed or reduced their quotas. 



