152 THE FUR SKALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



THE INTERRELATION OF PELAGIC AND LAND CATCHES. 



The relation of the pelagic catch to the laud catch is here well illustrated. The 

 catch in 1891 was small. Its eftect on the bachelor herd was slight and together with 

 the larger catch of 1802 accounts for the reduction from 30,000 to 31,000 in the land 

 catch. Bearing in mind the fact that the really important effect of the pelagic, catch 

 ot any year is only seen in the herd of killable seals after three years, we are prepared 

 to find the first marked reduction in 1895, and are not disappointed. The quota of 

 1895 is less than half the quota of 1891. Since 1894 the pelagic catch from the 

 Commander herd has rapidly declined, showing how pelagic sealing has exhausted its 

 own resources. Its catch of 1897 on the Asiatic side is about one-sixth the size of 

 its catch for is'.'l. 



In the case of the Pribilof herd the result has not been so striking. As against 

 Gl,838 seals taken in 1894 we have 24,321 taken in 1S97. But the results of the 

 modus vivendi, the closed zone and the closed season are seen in this herd. The 

 Commander herd has had no modus vivendi or closed season, and the protected zone 

 has been but one-half as great as that of the Pribilof herd. 



The example of the Commander herd strengthens the evidence in the case of 

 the Pribilof. With the former, as with the latter, the decline of the herd and the 

 expansion of pelagic sealing practically go together. If no other proof was available 

 than what these figures adduce we must be forced to the conclusion that pelagic 

 sealing has been the cause of the decline. 



