467 



Mr. Pelly. 



Mr. Pelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



I want to say it is a great pleasure for me coming from the State 

 of Washington to have my neighbor from Oregon here today. 



I want to ask one question about the sea otters. You say they are 

 getting along well, thriving, the ones that have been transplanted. 



Mr. McKean. Yes. 



Mr. Pelly. Do they go outside the 3-mile limit ? 



Mr. McKean. We have one man working full-time on sea otters, sea 

 lions, and seals and we find very little evidence of these animals mov- 

 ing outside of the 3-mile limit. 



They are closer to shore in the kelp beds and rocky points where 

 they are protected and we see little. 



In the case of sea otter, I do not believe any of them go outside the 

 3-mile limit. 



We have not seen any evidence of this, Mr. Pelly. 



Perhaps the gentleman from Alaska could elaborate on this. They 

 have had much more experience with sea otters than we have. They 

 are a difficult animal to observe. 



I might explain our situation on the seals and the sea lions. We have 

 about 1,800 harbor seals that are resident along the Oregon coast. 



We have about 2,000 Steller's sea lions that breed and reside on our 

 coast and so far we can tell there is very little change in these animals 

 either up or down the coast. 



f There are an additional 4,000 California sea lions that come to our 

 coast in the winter. They move up from California in the winter along 

 our coast and are mixed in with the Steller's sea lions during the winter 

 period. 



With the authority that was granted by the legislature last year, 

 the Oregon Game Commission has assigned complete protection to 

 seals, sea lions, and sea otters, the full length of the coast. 



Washington has taken a similar action. 

 I We had one problem and I understand there was testimony at a 

 previous hearing on this bill from a person who maintained that Ore- 

 gon was unmercifully persecuting seals with a paid hunter and a 

 bounty program and this type of thing. 



For the sake of the record I would like to clear that matter up. 



Back in 1935, because we do have a very aggressive gill net fishery 

 in the Columbia Kiver proper, back in 1935 the legislature for the gill 

 net fishery established a program for control and regulation of seals 

 in the vicinity of this gill net fishery. 



It provides that license fees are paid by each gill net fisherman at 

 the rate of $250 a year, each canner pays $50 a year, which contributes 

 to a seal control fund. 



The law authorizes the Oregon Fish Commission, which is a State 

 agency responsible for management of food fish and commercial fish to 

 pay bounties of not less than $5, and no more than $25 for the taking 

 of seals within this prescribed area in the Columbia River. 



It also authorizes the Fish Commission to employ a seal hunter who, 

 during the open season, can assist in herding or controlling seals that 

 are causing damage to the commercial fishery. 



This program has been progressively reduced in size. 



This year, the Fish Commission is not employing a seal hunter. 



