Translation 2783

.... 70
and that it do es not cause sûbstantial depredations among thè stocks
of commarcial fishes.
1j.-he
akiba is fairly lon{;wlivecï; in the ,:,ea of Okhotsk, where
it has been hunted intensively for a long time, specimens more tnan '
30 years old have been found. cvidently that is not its limit of
longevit,y,. because in some regions of t_ie Arctic Ocean where hunting
has not been so intensive specimens more than 40 ycars old have been
taken. 'l'he most danij^^;erous riatural enemies of t.,e s l;ecies are the
polar bear in tue :l3eri.ng, loea. and the killer wh,0-e in the ,:;c•a. of
Okhotsk:
i'ourteen helniinth species have been rtcorücd in 8ea of'
Okhotsk ringed seals, including two species of trema.todes, six species
of nematocles, two species of cestodes, and four species of Açai;thocephala.
Four species of nematodes and two of 1:canthocepha,la have
been recorded in the Bering 8ea subspecies.
In the northern nart of the Pacific Ocel::n the akiba is the
chief c{uar.ry of ship-bas ed. and shore-based hunting.
That seal has
been hunted. in the coastal areas of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering
Sea.for a long time. At the end of the 19th century the annual take
of akibas in the Sea of Okhotsk, according to incomplete records,
fluctuated betiieen 25,000 and 30,000; the taice remained at approximately
the same level until. the 1950s- In 1947-54 (Table, 7) the
annual. shore-based take of akibas in the Sea of Okhotsk reached from
9,000 to 18,000, whereas the ship-based take (except in 1947) was
much lower and fluctuated within the range of 2,000-8,000. The total
annual kill during that period avera,,;ed about 20,000. ûince 1955
the ship-•based kill has risen steeply as a result of the establishment
of a fl.otilla of sealinu, vessels.
llur.inP, the post-war years the annual shore--based kill of
ringed seals in the Bering
Sea fluctuated between 30,000 and 35,000,
but later it decreased somewhaL, and at present i t is at the 10,000-
12,000 level.
Since 1961, simulta.neously with siiip-baseci.hui^tinc, of
rihbon and bac^:r:cli:rl ser:cla, two nl^ii.^^a in the
have a.nly
tr.Lkcen smel'1 rjur.ibers of rjk:i.ba„s (.2,O00--;5,0U0j. of the take
of ri1^F;cc.l èeal:; on tiie Amerir,^i.n coast of too i,er:i.ng âe.'.t is unknown.
of a.l,ibas in tiie
Ci^c
Analysis of the tr,.f:c data indicnte:, art.suction in tne iauabura
of Okhotsk; appro.c.imwLc eo1111ts iirw,.: 7:eve