ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 63 



160. ^VLile a zone of proteetion has been siioken of as the best method of safely 

 guarding the viciiiitj' of the breeding ishuids, it is to be borne in mind that such an 

 area might be deiiued for practical purposes as a rectangular area bounded by certain 

 lines of latitude and longitude. Even in dense fog, and therefore comparatively 

 calm weather, an arrested vessel could be anchored with a kedge and warp until tlie 

 weather cleared, according to frequent custom. The special advantages of a concen- 

 tric zone appear to be that it is more directly in coni'orniity with the object in view, 

 and that in tine weather the visibility or otherwise of the islands themselves might 

 serve as a rough guide to sealers. 



161. The restriction of the number of seals killed on the breeding islands, appro- 

 priate safeguards being provided, admits of very considerable precision and requires 

 no special explanation. That the restriction of the number taken at sea may be 

 accomplished practically and with all necessary certainty, and that the means of con- 

 trol available in the case of this branch of the sealing industry are sufficient, is 

 clearly shown by the successful application of measures such as tliese here proposed, 

 to the Jan-Mayen and Newfoundland hair-seal fisheries, as well as of those based on 

 like principles, which are generally employed in protecting fish and game. 



(C) Methods of Giving Effect to Eegulations. 



162. The means suited to secure the practical efficiency of regulations at sea are 

 generally indicated by those adopted in the instances just cited. It is unnecessary 

 to formulate these here in full detail, but the following suggestions are ottered as 

 pointing out those methods likely to prove most useful in the particular case under 

 consideration : 



(1) Statutory provisions should be made, declaring it unlawful to hunt or take 

 fur seal during the close season by subjects or vessels of the respective powers. 



(2) The time of commencement of the sealing season should be further regulated 

 by the date of issuance of special customs clearances and of licenses for sealing, and 

 preferably by the issuance of such clearances or licenses from certain specified ports 

 only. 



(3) As elsewhere explained, the regulation of the time of opening of the sealing 

 season is the most important, and the closing of the season is practically brought 

 about by the onset of rough weather in the early autumn. If, however, it be con- 

 sidered desirable to fix a precise date for the close of sea sealing in each year, this 

 can be done, as in the case of the date of sealing under the Jan-Mayen convention. 



(4) The liability for breach of regulations, of whatever kind, should be made to 

 apply to the owner, to the master, or person in charge of any vessel, and to the hunt- 

 ers engaged on the vessel. 



(5) The penalty imposed should be a fine (of which one-half should go to the 

 informant), with possibly, in aggravated cases or second offenses, the forfeiture of 

 the catch and of the vessel itself. 



(6) 1*^0 facilitate the supervision of the seal fishery and the execution of the regu- 

 lations, all sealers might, in addition, be required to fly a distinctive flag, which 

 might well be identical with or some color modification of that already adopted for 

 the same purpose by the Jaj>anese Government. 



(D) Alternative Methods op Eegulation. 



163. Although the general scheme of measures above described appears to us, all 

 things considered, to be the most appropriate to the actual circumstances, measures 

 of other kinds have suggested themselves. Some of these, though perhaps less per- 

 fectly adapted to secure the fullest advantages, recommend themselves from their 

 very simplicity and the ease with which they might be applied. Of such alternative 

 methods of regulations, three may be specially referred to : 



(1) Entire prohibition of killing on one of the breeding islands, with suitable concurrent 



regulations at sea. 



164. The entire reservation and protection of one of the two larger islands of the 

 Pribilof group, either St. Paul or St. George Island, might be assured; such island 

 to be maintained as an undisturbed breeding place, upon which no seals shall be 

 killed for any purpose. On the remaining island the number of seals killed for com- 

 mercial purposes would remain wholly under the control of the Government of the 

 United States. 



In consideration of the guaranteed preservation of a breeding island with the pur- 

 pose of insuring the continuance of the seal stock in the common interest, a zone of 

 protected waters might be established about the Pribilof Islands, and pelagic seal- 

 ing might be further controlled ami restricted by means of a close season, including 

 the early spring months, or by a protected area to the south of the Aleutian Islands, 

 defined by parallels of latitude, such provisions at sea to have, as far as possible, 

 quautivalent relation to those established on the breeding islands. 



