
Table 1.--Published computations of the size of the seal herd, by 
years, 1911-47. 
[As of the end of the pupping season, or about 10 August 
each year. Data from Bureau of Fisheries and Fish and Wild- 
life Service. Estimates for the last 10 years are undoubtedly 
too high. There have been no published estimates since 1947 
and the formula by which these estimates were obtained is no 
longer applicable. | 



Year Number of seals Year Number of seals 
1911 123,600 1930 1,045,101 
1912 215,738 1931 1,127,082 
1913 268 , 305 | 1932 1,219,961 
1914 294,687 1933 1,318,568 
1915 363,872 1934 1,430,418 
1916 417,281 1935 1,550,913 
1917 468,692 1936 1,689,743 
1918 496 , 432 1937 1,839,119 
1919 524,235 1938 1,872,438 
1920 552,718 1939 2,020,774, 
1921 581,443 1940 2,185,136 
1922 604,962 1941 2,338,312 
1923 653,008 1942 2,585,397 
1924 697,158 1943 2,'720 , 780 
1925 723,050 1944 2,945,663 
1926 761,281 1945 3,155,268 
1927 808,870 : 1946 3,386,008 
1928 871,513 1947 3,613,653 
1929 971,527 
Management of the fur-seal herd was under the jurisdiction of 
the Bureau of Fisheries until this organization was succeeded by the Fish 
and Wildlife Service in 1940. In the same year, studies were begun to 
determine as closely as possible the true size of the herd. These studies 
were interrupted by World War II, but after its termination the biologists 
working cooperatively with management officials were able to determine the 
approximate size of the herd and of its various age and sex components, 
through the use of accumulated statistics and new research techniques. The 
present report is an essential step toward a better understanding of the 
Alaska fur-seal herd, a resource which furnishes revenue and a livelihood 
to nationals of the United States and Canada. 
The purpose of this report, then, is to show the average 
size of the Pribilof seal herd today, to trace briefly its fluctuations 
in the past, and to describe the methods used in estimating the population. 
eo 
