[Telegram] BETHEL, ALASKA, Senator STEVENS, Washington, D.C.: We would like to continue to use all the seal skins for sewing. Most people live here by using the skins. QUINHAGAK VILLAGE COUNCIL. [From the Congressional Record, August 4, 1971] OCEAN MAMMAL PROTECTION ACT Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, from time to time in the past few months, I have expressed strong opposition to S. 1315, the Ocean Mammal Protection Act, and similar measures now pending in the House. In speeches before this body, I have expressed the view that the act is extremely unsound from both an ecological and an environmental point of view in that it would terminate one of the most successful wildlife management programs in history-the Pribilof Islands seal harvest. The leaders of many prestigious conservation groups have also stated that enactment of the act would seriously jeopardize the management program on the Pribilofs. To document the case against S. 1315 and the similar House bills, I recently inserted in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD letters to the President and all Members of the House and Senate from the executive officers of these groups. Today, I am inserting additional documentary material. One of the documents is a news release issued by Secretary of Commerce Maurice H. Stans after a recent visit to the Pribilof Islands. Secretary Stans concluded his statement with the observation that "Ending the program (on the Pribilofs) would not be in the interest of a sustained seal population, the Aleut workers, or the federal government. I repeat, if and when more humane methods for harvesting are found and satisfactorily tested, they will be adopted." The Secretary also observed that the seal management program on the Pribilofs has been one of the most effective wildlife conservation and management programs in history. In addition to this statement, I am also inserting an article printed in the July 1971 edition of NOAA, a publication of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this article entitled, "A Thriving Herd," Mr. John A. Guinan points out that under National Marine Fisheries Service management, the Pribilof seal herd has come back from near extinction. In addition, he describes the management techniques employed on the islands and exposes certain fictions that have been widely disseminated about the seal harvest. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the article from NOAA and the press statement issued by Secretary Stans be printed in the RECORD. There being no objection, the items were ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: SECRETARY STANS REPORTS ON SEAL HARVEST AT PRIBILOFS Secretary of Commerce Maurice H. Stans today reported his conclusions on methods used in the harvesting of seals, following his return from a visit to the Pribilof Islands off the Alaskan Coast in the Bering Sea on July 8th and 9th. Secretary Stans went to the Pribilofs to observe fur seal management and conservation practices there, and to review harvesting methods in light of recent criticisms of the practices. While there, he consulted with the following: 1. A group of six veterinarians named by the American Veterinary Medical Association to study the methods employed in fur seal harvesting. 2. Members of the administration of St. Paul, the major Aleut community in Alaska, located on one of the Pribilof Islands. 3. Representatives of the American Humane Association, the International Society for the Protection of Animals and the Human Society of the United States, who were on the island to observe the harvesting. 4. Representatives of the Canadian government with responsibilities for seal harvesting in Canada. 5. Members of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is responsible for the harvesting and preparation of the seal skins. "The issue is not whether we will or will not continue to manage the fur seal herd," the Secretary said. "The issue is how we will manage the seal herds at their optimum levels most humanely." The Secretary said that present management practices were arrived at after the near extinction of the herd sixty years ago, and cessation of the internationally-negotiated management program now very likely would result in the same catastrophic effects. He said these could include resumption of high seas hunting of the seals, with indiscriminate slaughter, and a very high mortality rate of the pups on shore. "As a result of my meetings and my personal review of the situation," he said, "I can report the following conclusions: "1. There is no molestation or harvesting of the female seals, the pups or the male bulls associated with the harems in the rookeries. The only harvesting that takes place is of male seals three or four years old who situate themselves at a distance from the breeding herds. "2. Except for the fact that the operation takes place in the open, the method of harvesting is very similar to that which takes place in a meat-packing plant. The herd of male seals is removed about 100 yards from the beach, sorted into groups of from six to ten, and each animal in a group is then rendered unconscious by a quick blow to the head and immediately killed by bleeding. The entire process, including the skinning of the dead animal, takes about one minute. "3. Investigations have been conducted over a period of years to determine whether or not there is a more efficient method of harvesting. None has been found. The six veterinarians on the spot have been asked by me to make any recommendations for a more humane method of harvesting, and their report will be made to me upon the completion of the assignment. If their scientific studies establish that a better method is practicable, it will be adopted. "4. The annual period of harvesting and the number of seals harvested is determined carefully on a basis that will maintain the population of the seal heard at its optimum level. As a result of this process, the number of seals on the Pribilofs is currently estimated at 1,300,000, compared to only 200,000 in 1911. There is no present danger whatsoever of extermination of the herd under these policies. "5. The harvesting of the seals is the source of practically all of the income of the 700 Aleut residents of the Pribilof Islands. To deprive them of this income would make them dependent on the government. The local officials make it quite clear that they want the harvesting to continue so that the residents can earn a living and that under no circumstances do they want to move from the Islands. "6. Any implications, such as those recently published, to the effect that baby seals are harvested, that harvesting is depleting the herd, that harvesting methods are inefficient or inhumane, or indiscriminate, are totally unfounded. The crop of these animals is being managed and harvested under scientific practices just as domestic animals are raised and harvested. "Ending the program would not be in the interest of a sustained seal population, the Aleut workers, or the federal government. I repeat, if and when more humane methods of harvesting are found and satisfactorily tested, they will be adopted." Secretary Stans said the fur seal management program has been one of the most effective wildlife conservation and management programs in history. A THRIVING HERD (By John A. Guinan) On the grim, mist-shrouded Pribilof Islands off the coast of Alaska, an annual ritual that predates recorded history is taking place once again. The Northern Fur Seals have arrived at the rookeries on these lonely islands. The snowdrifts along the rocky beaches and rough volcanic hillsides have not melted completely when, in late May and early June, the big breeding bulls begin to appear. Heavy with fat from the long winter's feeding, belligerent and full of fight, the bulls or "beachmasters" lumber ashore. Each establishes his individual territory-about 30 to 50 feet in diameter-which another bull enters at his peril. Mature male or "bull" fur seals are much larger than the females or "cows." The fur seal cows average about 100 pounds in weight, but the great breeding bulls weigh from 400 to more than 600 pounds. The young of these fascinating creatures are called "pups." Soon it is summer on the tiny islands where no tall tree grows, but where for this brief season hundreds of varieties of wildflowers of rare color and beauty burst into bloom. About mid-June, the cows begin to arrive. Until this time, once their territories had been established, the bulls have slept or rested from their long sea journey. When the contest for their harems begins, however, there is no rest for the big beachmasters, Polygamous to an amazing degree, each gathers in as many docile cows as possible; the number varies from one or two to a hundred, but the average is about 40. Day and night, the air is filled with the bleating of females and young, and with the roars of the mightly males as each bull defends his harem against all comers. Battles between males are savage. From now until the end of the breeding season, the bulls live without food and get little sleep, gradually losing the layers of fat with which they came ashore. Almost as soon as the harems are formed, the pups conceived the year before begin to appear, and soon after a pup is born the mother is bred again. One pup per cow is the rule, and the young are carried for an entire year before birth. Not all cows bear young each season; the proportion is about 80 percent. The pups are precocious, their eyes wide open. They are active and have a coat of hair. It will be some weeks before any fur appears. They are entirely dependent on the mother's milk for food. The cow generally stays close to her youngster for several days, then leaves to go to sea for food. The mother may be away for a week, her trip taking her as far as a hundred miles from the rookery, but when she returns, the pup makes up for lost time. It takes on several times more milk than a human infant on the same body weight-up to a gallon of rich, creamy milk at a feeding. The little stomach swells like a toy balloon as the pup drops off for a long sleep. The mother seal will feed only her own pup and, despite her lengthy absence, the miles she travels, and the thousands of pups in a rookery, she finds her own. Baby fur seals venture to the water at about four weeks. Even though they can swim at birth, they have very little endurance. Their first trips to the cold water are taken with trepidation. The cow seals nurse their young for about three months, and no human disturbs them. By now the weather is taking a turn for the worse, and the pups are left abruptly to shift for themselves. Early mortality is high. Many pups succumb on the island before migration; others are prey to killer whales or big sharks; still more are lost in storms at sea. Yet more than enough young seals survive each year to keep the herd at its maximum healthy size. Around the edges of the breeding rookeries range the younger bulls, varying in age from six to eight years but not yet strong enough to compete with the fully matured beachmasters. Now and then they may steal a wayward wife of two, or even take over the harem of a disabled monarch. But most of the younger bulls await the end of the active breeding season when the young unbred females appear on the shore to join their first harem. And while all this activity goes on, the younger male seals, up to six years of age-known as "bachelors concregate in their own area nearby. It is from these males that the annual harvest or fur seals is taken, primarily from three and four-year old animais. Because the number of males and females at birth is approximately the same, and because the breeding bulls are so polygamous, many of these bachelors are surplus to maintaining the population of the herd. Removing bachelors from the hauling grounds is comparatively easy and does not disturb seals in the breeding rookeries. The weeks from late June until early August find the Aleut sealers on the hauling ground each morning at daybreak. The bachelor seals are driven a short distance inland from the beaches and sorted into progressively smaller groups or "pods," until only those to be harvested remain on the grounds. The seals are dispatched by a single blow to the head with a long club, immediately-followed by sticking the heart. It may look cruel, but it does render a quick death. In fact, no quicker or more efficient way has been found to kill the animals in spite of a great amount of research over the past three years to find another method. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which admiinsters the Pribilof Island Fur Seal Program, continues to seek an alternative method of dispatching the animals and this year has a six-man team of consultants referred by the American Veterinary Medical Association studying the problem on the islands. After the pelts are taken, they are transported to a processing plant on the islands where they are cooled and washed, and the fat or blubber is removed. The pelts are then cured in brine; when this process is complete, they are packed in wooden barrels. Fifteen percent of all skins taken by the United States go to Japan and another 15 percent to Canada, under terms of an international treaty. In return for a share of the skins, Japan and Canada refrain from what is called "pelagic"-sealing-that is, taking seals at sea. Pelagic sealing is a wasteful process, because the sex or age of seals is most difficult to determine when they are in the water, and because many animals are merely wounded and lost. The Soviet Union harvests fur seals on the Commander Islands and Robben Island and has the same percentage arrangement with Japan and Canada. Representatives of the four nations meet annually under terms of the Interim Convention on the Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals. The Alaska fur seal herd, the world's largest, today numbers some 1.3 million animals. Early in this century, the seals faced extinction as the population declined to about 200,000. Since then, under the sound wildlife management practices of the NMFS (formerly the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries), the herd has increased and stabilized. Scientists determine how many seals can be taken each year without endangering the population, and the kill is limited to that number. The restoration of the herd has been hailed throughout the world as an outstanding achievement in wildlife management and conservation. NMFS scientists and technicians travel to the Pribilofs to supervise the annual harvest. They join the year-round and temporary Aleut employees who work on all phases of the harvest. Sealing and related services are the only real employment available to the people of the islands. The inhabitants are Aleuts, a people said to have been taken to the Pribilofs to harvest seals for the Russians shortly after the islands were discovered. They are generally somewhat shorter than their fellow Americans in the "Lower 48" and somewhat stockier in build. They are not Eskimos, and maintain they are a separate race. Some of the present residents can trace their ancestry back for 180 years; more than 95 percent were born on the Pribilofs. St. Paul, the larger of the two inhabited islands, is home to about 400 residents. Compared to many towns in Alaska, it has excellent physical facilitiesreliable electrical service, pure water, a volunteer fire department and a sewer system. The frame homes are arranged on streets, and new homes may soon outnumber the older residences. The Aleuts are keenly aware of the importance of sealing, because it is their primary source of employment except for the relatively few service and maintenance jobs. There is no agriculture. St. Paul has several local businesses. There are four cafes, or refreshment stands, two movie houses, several taxis or rental cars, and one intermittent barber shop. Since 1962, all workers employed by the United States have received standard government wages in accordance with the work performed and the period for which they were employed. The Aleuts are full-fledged U.S. citizens who vote in local, state, and national elections. They all speak English, pay taxes, and young men are subject to the draft. Elementary school education is available, but for a high school education youngsters must go to the mainland. Residents of the Pribilofs do not yet have telephones or television, but practically every family has at least one short-wave and long-wave radio. Many homes are equipped with citizens-band short-wave radios which substitute for telephones, except that there is no privacy. With these radios, they can communicate with each other on St. Paul and with friends and relatives on St. George, the other occupied island. The story is told of an Aleut lady who wanted to have a semi-private chat with a friend at the other end of the village via the citizens-band radio, so she whispered. A small herd of wild reindeer roams St. Paul Island; and bird lovers come from all over the world, equipped with cameras and binoculars, to see the tufted puffins, the murres, the kittiwakes, the pelagic cormorants, and many other species. And each year, the seals return, in a migration that has continued for eons. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE U.S. FUR SEALS FICTION The U.S. kills baby seals on the Pribilof Islands. FACT The U.S. does not kill baby seals on the Pribilofs or anywhere else. Misleading advertisements have used pictures of a Canadian harvest of a different species of seal. FICTION The U.S. seal harvest takes place on the ice. FACT The U.S. harvest takes place on land a short distance from the rookeries where animals can be carefully selected for sex and age. FICTION Clubs are used because it's the cheapest way to kill the animals. FACT Scientific evidence has shown that clubbing and sticking the heart with a sharp knife is the quickest and most humane way known to dispatch the seals. FICTION At the rate we are killing them the last seal will soon be gone. FACT The Pribilof Island seal herds are scientifically managed to maintain the herd at its stabilized population of about 1.3 million animals. That is close to the number which will provide the greatest annual harvest. FICTION Seals are skinned alive. |