Abstract

The Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission (ANHSC) was organized in 1995 and entered into a co-management agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1999 to ensure Alaska Natives' co-equal participation in the management of harbor seals in Alaska. The ANHSC biosampling program certifies Alaska Native subsistence hunters to collect samples for biological research. In collaboration with the Alaska Sea Life Center, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the University of Alaska, the health of local harbor seal populations is investigated and the data is returned to Alaska Native communities. Parameters studied include harbor seal diet, contaminant levels, reproductive history, genetics, and the age structure of populations. The biological information that results from these studies is used to make management decisions. Another ANHSC program that contributes data to management is the harvest monitoring program. In collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game Subsistence Division, the ANHSC surveys 62 Alaska Native communities and documents the number of harbor seals taken in the subsistence harvest annually. The ANHSC proudly contributes data that is critical to harbor seal management to ensure that harbor seal populations in Alaska are conserved for future generations.