780 NOAA Technical Report NMFSSSRF-780 r w ^ \ History of Scientific Study % and IVIanagennent of the Alasl<an Fur Seal, Callorhinus ursinus, 1786-1964 Victor B. Scheffer, Clifford H. Fiscus, and Ethel I. Todd March 1984 larine Biological Laboratory LIBRARY OCT 14 1992 Woods Hole, Mass. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA TECHNICAL REPORTS National Marine Fisheries Service, Special Scientific Report— Fisheries The major responsibilities of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are to monitor and assess the abundance and geographic distribution of fishery resources, to understand and predict fluctuations in the quantity and distribution of these resources, and to establish levels for optimum use of the resources- NMFS is also charged with the development and implementation of policies for managing national fishing grounds, development and enforcement of domestic fisheries regulations, surveillance of foreign fishing off United States coastal waters, and the development and enforcement of international fishery agreements and policies. NMFS also assists the fishing industry through marketing service and economic analysis programs, and mortgage insurance and vessel construction subsidies. It collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on various phases of the industry. The Special Scientific Report — Fisheries series was established in 1949. The series carries reports on scientific investigations that document long-term continuing programs of NMFS. or intensive scientific reports on studies of restricted scope. The reports may deal with applied fishery problems. The series is also used as a medium for the publication of bibliographies of a specialized scientific nature. NOAA Technical Reports NMFS SSRF are available free in limited numbers to governmental agencies, both Federal and State. They are also available in exchange for other scientific and technical publications in the marine sciences. Individual copies may be obtained from D822, User Services Branch, Environ- mental Science Information Center, NOAA, Rockville, MD 20852. Recent SSRF's are: 722. Gulf menhaden, Brevoorlia palronus, purse seine fishery: Catch, fishing 733. Possible management procedures for increasing production of sockeye activity, and age and size composition, 1964-73. By William R. Nicholson. salmon smolts in the Naknek River system, Bristol Bay, Alaska. By Robert J. March 1978, iii -f 8 p., 1 fig., 12 tables. Ellis and William J. McNeil. April 1979, iii -I- 9 p., 4 figs., II tables. 723. Ichthyoplankton composition and plankton volumes from inland coastal 734. Escape of king crab, Paralilhodes camlschatica, from derelict pots. By waters of southeastern Alaska, April-November 1972. By Chester R. Mattson William L. High and Donald D. Woriund. May 1979, iii + II p.. 5 figs., 6 and Bruce L. Wing. April 1978, iii -i- II p., I fig., 4 tables. tables. 724. Estimated average daily instantaneous numbers of recreational and com- 735. History of the fishery and summary statistics of the sockeye salmon, On- mercial fishermen and boaters in the St. Andrew Bay system, Florida, and adja- corhynchus nerka, runs to the Chignik Lakes, Alaska, 1888-1956. By Michael cent coastal waters, 1973. By Doyle F. Sutherland. May 1978, iv 4- 23 p., 31 L. Dahlberg. August 1979, iv + 16 p., 15 figs., II tables. figs. 11 tables. 736. A historical and descriptive account of Pacific coast anadromous salmonid 725. Seasonal bottom-water temperature trends in the Gulf of Maine and on rearing facilities and a summary of their releases by region, 1960-76. By Roy Georges Bank, 1963-75. By Clarence W. Davis. May 1978, iv + 17 p., 22 figs., J. Wahle and Robert Z. Smith. September 1979, iv ^- 16 p., 15 figs., 25 tables. 5 tables. 737. Movements of pelagic dolphins (Slenella spp.) in the eastern tropical Pa- 726. The Gulf of Maine temperature structure between Bar Harbor, Maine, and cific as indicated by results of tagging, with summary of tagging operations, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, June 1975-November 1976. By Robert J. Pawlowski. 1969-76. By W. F. Perrin, W. E. Evans, and D. B. Hohs. September 1979, iii December 1978, iii -f 10 p., 14 figs., I table. -I- 14 p., 9 figs., 8 tables. 727. Expendable bathythermograph observations from the NMFS/MARAD 738. Environmental baselines in Long Island Sound, 1972-73. By R. N. Reid, Ship of Opportunity Program for 1975. By Steven K. Cook, Barclay P. Collins, A. B. Frame, and A. F. Draxler. December 1979, iv -I- 31 p., 40 figs., 6 tables. and Christine S. Carty. January 1979, iv ^- 93 p., 2 figs., 13 tables, 54app. figs. 739. Bottom-water temperature trends in the Middle Atlantic Bight during spring 728. Vertical sections of semimonthly mean temperature on the San Francisco- and autumn, 1964-76. By Clarence W. Davis. December 1972, iii -t- 13 p., 10 Honolulu route: From expendable bathythermograph observations, June 1966- figs., 9 tables. December 1974. By J. F. T. Saur, L. E. Eber, D. R. McLain, and C. E. Dorman. January 1979, iii -)- 35 p., 4 figs., I table. 740. Food of fifteen northwest Atlantic gadiform fishes. By Richard W. 729. References for the indentification of marine invertebrates on the southern Langton and Ray E. Bowman. February 1980, iv + 23 p., 3 figs., II tables. Atlantic coast of the United States. By Richard E. Dowds. April 1979, iv -^ 37 p. 741. Distribution of gammaridean Amphipoda (Crustacea) in the Middle At- 730. Surface circulation in the northwest Gulf of Mexico as deduced from lantic Bight region. By John J. Dickinson, Roland L. Wigley, Richard D. Bro- drift bottles. By Robert F. Temple and John A. Martin. May 1979, iii -^ 13 p.. deur, and Susan Brown-Leger. October 1980, iv -f 46 p., 26 figs., 52 tables. 8 figs., 4 tables. 742. Water structure at Ocean Weather Station V, northwestern Pacific Ocean, 731. Annotated bibliography and subject index on the shortnose sturgeon, Aci- 1966-71. By D. M. Husby and G. R. Seckel. October 1980, 18 figs., 4 tables. penser brevirostrum. By James G. Hoff. April 1979, iii -t- 16 p. 743. Average density index for walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogamma, in the 732. Assessment of the Northwest Atlantic mackerel. Scomber scombrus, stock. Bering Sea. By Loh-Lee Low and Ikuo Ikeda. November 1980, iii + II p., By Emory D. Anderson. April 1979, iv -i- 13 p., 9 figs., 15 tables. 3 figs., 9 tables. NOAA Technical Report NMFS SSRF-780 History of Scientific Study and JVIanagement of tine Alaskan Fur Seal, Callorhinus ursinus, '"'^l^fNTOfC.O' 1786-1964 Victor B. Scheffer, Clifford H. Fiscus, and Ethel I. Todd Marine Biological Laboratory March 1984 LIBRARY OCT 14 1992 Woods Hole, Mass. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration John V. Byrne, Administrator National Marine Fisheries Service William G^ Gordon, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries PREFACE The "History" by Victor B. Scheffer and Ethel I. Todd was completed in 1967 and 15 mim- eographed copies were produced and distributed to the staff of the then Marine Mammal Divi- sion, now National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center (NWAFC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Seattle, Wash.; the Pribilof Islands Program, NMFS Northwest Region, in Seattle and on St. Paul and St. George Islands; and NMFS Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The value of the "History" to researchers has long been recognized and to make this infor- mation readily available it is being pubHshed as written in 1967 with only minor revision of the Literature Cited section to conform to present citation procedures. Scheffer provided corrections to textual errors and with Clifford H. Fiscus, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, NWAFC, reexamined and selected photographs to accompany the text. Roger E. Pearson, Samuel Waterman, and Rae Mitsuoka, Publication Program, NWAFC, edited the volume rearranging citations to conform to current practice. A Louise Irwin, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, NWAFC, typed the manuscript and with Fiscus verified citations and proofread the manuscript. Leola Hietala, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, NWAFC, typed and assisted in the final production of the manuscript. Published reports cited in the text are listed in the Literature Cited section. Published re- ports not cited in the text, but providing additional relevant information, are listed in the Ref- erences. Unpublished reports and manuscripts are cited as footnotes. 1 CONTENTS Introduction 1 The Russian period, 1786-1867 1 Establishment of the fur seal industry 1 Research during the Russian period 4 The interregnum, 1868-69 4 Sealing during the change of ownership 4 Research during the interregnum 6 The Alaska Commercial Company { 1 870-89) and the rise of pelagic sealing 7 Sealing under a monopoly operator 7 The rise of pelagic sealing 7 Research during the first lease, 1870-89 8 TheNorth American Commercial Company (1890- 1901) and the first international treaty (1891) 10 The modus vivendi of 1891-93 10 The Paris tribunal and regulations of 1 893 11 Research during the second lease, 1 890- 1 909 11 The transition years, 1910-1 19 The period of population recovery, 1912-39 20 The Osgood, Preble, and Parker study, 1914 22 Routine management for 25 years, 1915-39 23 The modern period, 1940-64 26 Establishment of continuous research, 1940-51 26 The three-nation investigation of 1952 38 Studies in the harvesting of female seals", 1953-57 39 The four-nation investigations of 1958-64 42 Literature cited 53 References 62 Index 64 The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, rec- ommend or endorse any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NMFS, or to this publication furnished by NMFS, in any advertising or sales pro- motion which would indicate or imply that NMFS approves, recommends or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein, or which has as its purpose an intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of this NMFS publication.