Primary production/Zooplankton/Marine mammals Current status of pinnipeds in the Sea of Okhotsk

• Main Author: Alexey M. Trukhin
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Okhotsk; bearded seal; harbor seal; ringed seal; Northern fur seal
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.359.9927; http://www.pices.int/publications/scientific_reports/Report36/82-89-Current-Status-pinnipeds.pdf

The Sea of Okhotsk is one of the main regions of pinniped distribution in the Russian Far East. There are 7 species of the pinnipeds living: 2 species (Steller sea lion and northern fur seal) are represented by the Otariidae family and 5 species (bearded seal, ringed seal, spotted seal, harbor seal and ribbon seal) are members of the Phocidae family. In the second part of the last century, all species of true seals, except harbor seals, were the objects of harvest, and were caught year round. Consequently, these species were studied as well. However, in 1994 shipbased harvests of ice seals in the Sea of Okhotsk ended, resulting in a reduced level of study. The main species for harvest in the Sea of Okhotsk was ringed seal, annual catches of which reached almost 100,000 individuals in certain years. The catch quantity of other pinnipeds was also impressive (Table 1). The most intensive harvest began in 1955, when the Far East fishing fleet flotilla was developed. The strength of the harvest led to a rapid decline in the number of seals. For example, the number of ringed seals in the Sea of Okhotsk dropped from 1 million to 600,000 from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. In 1969, some limitations on the seal harvest were enacted. The last census of true seal populations in the Sea of Okhotsk was conducted in 1990 (Table 2). It can be seen from the table that the decrease in the number of seals stopped for nearly all species, and that the number of ringed seals has yet to fully rebound.