Native Alaskans can hunt walrus. They must and most usually do, use every possible part of the walrus. Non-natives can take the valued ivory tusks from a dead walrus they may find only for their own purposes. They cannot profit from harvesting parts and pieces.
About double the number of dead walrus carcasses have been found along a 40-mile stretch in Norton Sound, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and that number is alarming. An investigation is underway to determine why. Officials believe that either a criminal element is involved where walruses are being killed and the heads cut off or native hunters aren’t utilizing the animal like they should.
By early July, 79 walrus carcasses had been found with everyone of them missing just the heads. Some animals, it was easy to see, had been shot.
Tom Remington
