The exploitation of populations: Exploitation of seals, whales and penguins in New Zealand

[First paragraph...]
This summary of exploitation and assessment of its effects has been derived from consideration of (a) historical factors, (b) present distribution and population levels, and (c) relevant features of the life history and ecology of the vertebrates concerned as far as this has a bearing on the exploitation results. In marshalling the known facts we end up with a summary which is about two-thirds history and one-third natural historv, an imbalance that brings out how little is yet known about the full life cycle and ecology of most marine vertebrates, at least in sufficient critical detail to allow an accurate estimation of exploitability.