Ribbon Seal

Protection
Young Ribbon Seals look like young Harp Seals, and like these, they were hunted for their fur. Since they do not form herds, Ribbon Seals were more difficult to catch than Harp Seals. Since the Soviet Union limited the hunt on Ribbon Seals in 1969, their population has recovered. The current population is around 250,000.
In March 2008 the US government agreed to study Alaska's Ribbon Seal population and is considered adding it to the endangered species list. However, in December 2008, the US government decided that sea ice critical to the seals' survival will not be endangered by global warming, and declined to list the species. Instead, it became a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern. Species of Concern are those species about which the U.S. Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
In the summer of 2009 the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit to get the decision changed.