1. For the purposes of this subpart: (a) the term 2. None of the provisions of this subpart cover fer- Units of quantity 1 Rates of duty Mr. POTTER. Mr. Pollock, have you all done any research on the relationships between the size and the health of the Alaska fur seal population and what is generally going on in the Bering Sea ecosystem? This is, I believe, a rather unique system. Mr. POLLOCK. Are you talking about the fur seals now? Mr. POTTER. Yes. Mr. POLLOCK. They migrate all the way down. Mr. POTTER. I know that. Mr. POLLOCK. All the way down the western coast of the United States and beyond. Mr. POTTER. When they come back to the rookeries, they are tied to the rookeries for a period of about 2 months? Mr. POLLOCK. Well, it varies. The older harem bulls come in first, in the late spring, followed by the females. The younger males come in later. Mr. POTTER. There is still a long space of time that they are resident in the Bering Sea. There is some indication that the increased herring fishery in the Bering Sea is having a substantial effect on the health of the fur seal population because it is making it harder and harder for the females get enough of food within a few days of the islands, so the pups are starving. Dr. HARRY. We do have a little bit of information on this and, of course, there have been tremendous takes of fish from the Bering Sea, and this is a changing situation. Mr. DINGELL. I am curious if this is not a problem of overfishing. Dr. HARRY. For the fur seals? Mr. DINGELL. Yes. Dr. HARRY. We were curious about this also and, over a period of years, have weighed pups to see if there is any obvious difference in the weight of them. In other words, are they really going hungry? Also, we have been checking the mortality of pups on land before they go to sea, to see if there has been any change. And there has been nothing obvious shown up in either. They are not skinnier. The good condition of the pups is an indication of an adequate milk supply which, in turn, indicates that the females are getting an adequate supply of food in the vicinity of the islands. There has not been any great change in the mortality of pups on land in recent years. As a matter of fact, if anything, it may have dropped a little. Mr. DINGELL. Have you done any tests on heavy metals or pesticides in the carcasses of seals that have been sacrificed out there? Dr. HARRY. Yes. Mr. DINGELL. Have you seen any changes in DDT, cadmium, or lead, or any of the other heavy metals? Dr. HARRY. We just got some cadmium analyses back and they had a fair amount of it. We have not had a chance to look at it. It is brandnew data. We have a good deal of old data on mercury and DDT, and fur seals have a good charge of both of these. As a matter of fact, most of the marine mammals do today. Mr. DINGELL. Are you doing the study on a fairly regular basis? 67-765 O 71 - 20 Dr. HARRY. Yes; we have been doing this fairly regularly. We have only determined this last year. The first time this problem came up was last year so there is no a big backlog of data. Nobody knew there was a problem until we decided maybe this is something we had better analyze, and we analyzed the fur seals for mercury, and they had a considerable amount especially concentra ed in the liver. And this is the first indication of such a thing in this mammal. Dr. HARRY. Cadmium has shown up in a pre'ty good charge. DDT and other pesticides are there. Mr. DINGELL. Would you submit us information on this point? Dr. HARRY. Yes. |