I'm not aware of that.
But the reason the seal population increased was that there was a drastic reduction in the hunt beginning about 1982 or 1983 that stayed in place until about 1995. These seals live for 30 years or so, so during that period of reduced hunting when catches probably averaged somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000—and in one year you may remember it got down as low as about 20,000—the population was given time to recover. And that's where the real growth of the population occurred.
Then, beginning in 1995, there was an increase in the total allowable catch, an increase in the landed catch that has continued every year since, with perhaps one exception. That increased catch has stabilized the growth of the population and is now causing it to decline.
So it is totally consistent with what you are saying, except that there is a time lag in there.