The provisions of the Fur Seal Act of 1966 have a twofold purpose: First. to conserve the fur seal herd. and second. to provide for the welfare of the natives on the Pribilof Islands. When Gerasim Pribilof discovered the islands in 1786 they were uninhabited and the Russians imported natives from Unalaska to harvest the seal skins. The present population of the islands is largely made up of the descendants of Aleutian immigrants of some 180 years ago. In hearings on the Fur Seal Act in 1966 my predecessor. the late Senator Bartlett. heard testimony on the Pribilof Islands. and one prevailing theme that came out of the testimony was that welfare of the natives ran second to the management of the seal herd. Two of the excerpts from those hearings are particularly revealing: Senator BARTLETT.
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