The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) is the largest member of the eared seal family (Otariidae), with adult males reaching up to 3 metres in length and over 1,000 kilograms. It is found across the North Pacific rim from California to Japan, with the largest populations in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea.
Steller sea lions are social animals that gather in large colonies on rocky coastlines and islands for breeding and hauling out. They feed on a wide variety of fish, squid, and octopus. The species is divided into two distinct population segments — western and eastern — with the western population having experienced significant declines since the 1970s, leading to its listing as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act.
For Indigenous communities across Alaska and the North Pacific, Steller sea lion has been an important food source for millennia. Muscle meat, fat, blubber, and organs including heart, liver, and kidney are all consumed. This traditional use is recognised and protected under US federal law as a subsistence right of Alaska Native peoples.
How it's produced
Steller sea lion is taken exclusively through subsistence hunting by Alaska Native communities, as permitted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Hunting typically occurs at coastal haul-out sites or in nearshore waters using rifles. The practice is deeply embedded in the food culture of Aleut, Alutiiq, Yup’ik, and other Alaska Native groups.
Multiple parts of the animal are used. Muscle meat is eaten fresh, dried, or frozen. The fat and blubber are rendered into oil or eaten directly. Organs such as heart, liver, and kidney are prepared and consumed. Commercial hunting is prohibited, and the subsistence harvest is monitored by federal and tribal agencies to ensure it does not impact population recovery, particularly for the endangered western population.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for other red meat, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
What comes from this
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