Marine Mammals; Subsistence Taking of Northern Fur Seals

Samenvatting

NMFS is required to publish an estimate of the number of seals expected to be harvested in the current year to meet the subsistence needs of the Aleut residents of the Pribilof Islands, AK, pursuant to the regulations governing the subsistence taking of northern fur seals. The purpose of these regulations is to limit the take of fur seals to a level providing for the subsistence needs of the Pribilof residents and to restrict taking by sex, age, and season for herd management purposes. This notice estimates the number of seals to be taken in 1994. This notice also proposes to amend existing fur seal regulations, making the harvest take estimates applicable for 3 years instead of 1 year. This proposed amendment is based on the fact that a relatively consistent number of fur seals has been harvested each year since 1989, and that NMFS does not expect subsistence needs to increase such that takes for subsistence purposes will exceed the established upper limit of the subsistence harvest estimate range first established for the 1992 harvest.