NOTES ON PELAGIC CATCH. 223 



PELAGIC SEAL CATCHES, 1868 TO 1897. 



AUTHORITIES FOlt FIGURES USED IN FOREGOING TABLE. 

 [In quoting from Fur-Seal Arbitration Papers the first edition is always referred to.] 



I Fur-seal Arbitration. App. to U. S. Case, vol. 1, p. 591. 



2 Catches for years 1868 to 1879, inclusive, is made up of Northwest coast catches (Fur-Seal 

 Arbitration; British Commissioners' Report, p. 207 et seq. ); Indian canoe catches (British 

 Commissioners' Report, pp. 207, 208), and skins obtained through the Hudson Bay Company's trading 

 stations (British Commissioners' Report, p. 213). 



3 Catches of pelagic sealers and Indian canoes (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 207, 208), and 

 returns from HudsonBay Company's posts (British Commissioners' Report, p. 213). 



4 San Francisco custom-house records: Deputy Collector Jerome's letters of February 26 et seq., 

 1892. on file in Treasury Department. 



5 Catch of schooner City of San Diego (British Commissioners' Report, p. 208). 



6 Catches of pelagic sealers ill North Pacific and Bering Sea (British Commissioners' Report, p. 

 209), and returns from Hudson Bay Company's posts (British Commissioners' Report, p. 213). 



7 Catches in North Pacific from all sources (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 210, 213). 



8 Marketed catches from Bering Sea (British Commissioners' Report, p. 210) plus 2,000 skins sei/ed 

 on schooners Onward, Thornton, Carolina, and San Diego (H. H. Mclutyre's manuscript report to Alaska 

 Commercial Company, a copy of which is in possession of Department). 



9 British commissioner's estimated catch of American vessels in all localities (British Commissioners' 

 Report, p. 212). 



10 North Pacific catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 210, 213). 



II Marketed catches from Bering Sea (British Commissioners' Report, p. 210) plus 8,910 skins 

 seized in Bering Sea and unaccounted for by British commissioners; 11,901 skins were seized that 

 year (United States Counter Case, p. 337), and the British commissioners, on page 210 of their report, 

 account for 2,991 of them. 



12 North Pacific catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 211,213). 



13 Bering Sea catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp.211, 212). 



14 North Pacific catches (British Commissioners' Report, pp. 211,213). 



ls This figure, 27,450, is the sum of the figures 22,530 and 4,920, the origin of which will be found 

 under note 16. The British commissioners, on page 18 of their report, give the approximate total catch 

 as 68,000. 



:fi ln a letter from the British foreign office to the Secretary of State, dated May 17, 1895, the 

 Bering Sea catch of British vessels for 1891 is quoted at 29,146. It has been found by this Department 

 that these figures represent the total catch in Bering Sea thatis, including seals killed off the western 

 side, in Russian waters, as well as off the eastern side, which afterwards became the award area. This 

 is borne out by the fact that it appears by the British case before the tribunal at Paris that 41 vessels 

 were warned out of the American side of Bering Sea between June 29 and August 15, 1891, under the 

 modus vivendi of June 15 of that year. It is certain that many of these, vessels crossed over to the 

 Russian side of Bering Sea and continued sealing until the close of the season. 



Statistics made by Mr. Alfred Fraser, now in possession of the Treasury Department, show that 

 8,432 skins were thus taken on the western side of Bering Sea in Russian waters. Of these, 6,616 were 

 taken by British vessels and 1,816 by American vessels. We should, therefore, deduct from the British 

 figures (29,146) the sum of 6,616, leaving 22,530 as the British catch in the award area that is, the 

 eastern side of Bering Sea for the year 1891. 



It further appears from Mr. Fraser's figures that the American catch in Bering Sea in 1891 was 

 6,736, of which 1,816 were taken in Russian waters and 4,920 in the award area. Adding to the 

 corrected British catch, 22,530, the catch of the American vessels, 4,920, W3 have 27,450 as the total 

 catch of British and American vessels in that part of Bering Sea known as the award area for the 

 year 1891. 



In the report of the Committee on Ways and Means to accompany H. R. 8909, Fifty- third Congress 

 third session, Report No. 1849, the catch in Bering Sea for the year 1891 was given as 23,041, on the 

 authority of the Treasury Department. These figures included only the returns of British vessels, as 

 no reliable returns as to American vessels were then in the possession of the Department. The result 

 was reached by deducting from the estimate given by Consul Meyers in his report (United States 

 counter case), 28,605, a number of skins estimated to have been taken off the Russian coast. This 



