Methods of Determining the Numbers and Availability of Ringed Seals in the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Abstract

Discusses procedures for making local estimates of population density and prospective catch of the Eskimo hunters. A method is outlined for counting seals from ships in open water; and for determining population density by the amount and quality of fast ice, with regard to complexity of the coastline. From hunting trips in various parts of the Eastern Arctic, average daily catch to be expected is estimated at 3.6 seals from a boat in summer on a complex coast and 1.4 on an open coast, 2.8 on the ice before the peak of the spring basking season, and 6.8 at the peak. From these and other calculable variables, such as loss of kill by sinking, weather conditions, etc., an equation is formulated for predicting the potential annual catch of a hunter in a given region.