diminished. Then, after the Second World War, whitecoat furs became an important
commodity for the fashion industry. With the decline of international markets caused
by a shift in public opinion concerning whitecoats and the associated first bans on
whitecoat furs, the industry shifted towards beater furs. While the markets are
considerably lower than 40 years ago, large numbers of harp seals are still landed
for both the international and regional markets.
26
The northwest Atlantic stock is estimated to have increased from 1.8 million
animals in the 1970s to more than 7.5 million despite the still ongoing large-scale
hunts. The stock around Greenland and Jan Mayen has increased from 296,000 in
1994 to 627,000 in 2013. The stock in the Barents and White Sea has dropped from
1.8 million in 2000 to 1.4 million in 2010 despite very limited hunts. The IUCN lists
the harp seal as ‘least concern’ with an increasing population trend, but high
fluctuations or pup production and mortality are a prevalent feature of this species.
With the melting of the Arctic sea ice, harp seals lose important whelping grounds.
Climate change poses therefore the greatest long-term risk for harp seals.
27
2.2.2 Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus)
The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) is one of the oldest genus of the family of
Otariidae and its origins date back 2–5 million years. Northern fur seals display
significant sexual dimorphism: while males range between 200 and 250 kg and have
a black to reddish fur colour, females reach merely 45 kg and are grey-brown with a
light underbelly. It is primarily a sub-Arctic seal species which can only be found in
the Pacific Ocean. Around 74% of this species breed at the Pribilof Islands (St Paul
and St George) in Alaska and 17% at the Commander Islands in Russia. The species
can also be found at the Russian Kuril and Robben Islands as well as at the Channel
Islands in California.
While the species spends considerable time on land to breed and to feed, it is also
a migratory species. Despite interaction with humans dating back several hundred
years and the fact this marine mammal species has been studied longer than any
other, migration patterns and distribution, as well as the diet of particularly fur seal
pups are not fully understood. This being said, it is clear that breeding preferences
have largely remained the same over the last several hundred years, meaning that fur
seals consistently return to the same areas on land in order to breed. These so-called
‘rookeries’ are well known by humans and have constituted the main sites for the
large-scale seal hunts in the Bering Sea. Thirty-two of these rookeries are known to
exist. Upon discovery of the species in 1742 by George Wilhelm Steller, exploitation
began almost immediately. The species has been hunted extensively, leading to
several population collapses until the first regulatory regimes were put in place, as
we will see in Chap. 6.
28
26 Lavigne (2008), pp. 542–546.
27 Kovacs (2015).
28 Gentry (2008), pp. 788–791.
28
2 Marine Mammals: Some Basics
commodity for the fashion industry. With the decline of international markets caused
by a shift in public opinion concerning whitecoats and the associated first bans on
whitecoat furs, the industry shifted towards beater furs. While the markets are
considerably lower than 40 years ago, large numbers of harp seals are still landed
for both the international and regional markets.
26
The northwest Atlantic stock is estimated to have increased from 1.8 million
animals in the 1970s to more than 7.5 million despite the still ongoing large-scale
hunts. The stock around Greenland and Jan Mayen has increased from 296,000 in
1994 to 627,000 in 2013. The stock in the Barents and White Sea has dropped from
1.8 million in 2000 to 1.4 million in 2010 despite very limited hunts. The IUCN lists
the harp seal as ‘least concern’ with an increasing population trend, but high
fluctuations or pup production and mortality are a prevalent feature of this species.
With the melting of the Arctic sea ice, harp seals lose important whelping grounds.
Climate change poses therefore the greatest long-term risk for harp seals.
27
2.2.2 Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus)
The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) is one of the oldest genus of the family of
Otariidae and its origins date back 2–5 million years. Northern fur seals display
significant sexual dimorphism: while males range between 200 and 250 kg and have
a black to reddish fur colour, females reach merely 45 kg and are grey-brown with a
light underbelly. It is primarily a sub-Arctic seal species which can only be found in
the Pacific Ocean. Around 74% of this species breed at the Pribilof Islands (St Paul
and St George) in Alaska and 17% at the Commander Islands in Russia. The species
can also be found at the Russian Kuril and Robben Islands as well as at the Channel
Islands in California.
While the species spends considerable time on land to breed and to feed, it is also
a migratory species. Despite interaction with humans dating back several hundred
years and the fact this marine mammal species has been studied longer than any
other, migration patterns and distribution, as well as the diet of particularly fur seal
pups are not fully understood. This being said, it is clear that breeding preferences
have largely remained the same over the last several hundred years, meaning that fur
seals consistently return to the same areas on land in order to breed. These so-called
‘rookeries’ are well known by humans and have constituted the main sites for the
large-scale seal hunts in the Bering Sea. Thirty-two of these rookeries are known to
exist. Upon discovery of the species in 1742 by George Wilhelm Steller, exploitation
began almost immediately. The species has been hunted extensively, leading to
several population collapses until the first regulatory regimes were put in place, as
we will see in Chap. 6.
28
26 Lavigne (2008), pp. 542–546.
27 Kovacs (2015).
28 Gentry (2008), pp. 788–791.
28
2 Marine Mammals: Some Basics