THE SALVATION OF THE ALASKAN FUR SEAL 



HERD 



By Henry W. Elliott 



^w^HEN I returned in 1S7-1 to the 

 f I 1 Smithsonian Institution, after 

 ^^^ spending the seasons of 1872-74 

 on the Seal Islands of Alaska as the 

 agent of that establishment and of the 

 Treasury Department, I submitted the 

 results of my investigations and my col- 

 lections to Professors Henry and Baird. 



One of the most interesting of the 

 returns was my census of the fur seal 

 herd, whereby I exhibited proof that 

 at least 4,700,000 seals of all classes 

 were in existence on and around the 

 Pribilof Islands during the summer of 

 1874. The complete elaboration and 

 publication of this work was made in 

 1880-81, and published by the 10th Cen- 

 sus, U. S. A., Vol. VIII, and by the 

 U. S. Commission of Fish and Fish- 

 eries, as Special Bulletin 176, 1882. 



In 1889, when the subject of whether 

 the lease should be renewed on the same 

 general terms as had been fixed in the 

 first one dated May 1, 1870, a dispute 

 arose as to the condition of this seal 

 herd, and the number of seals which 

 could be safely killed annually by the 

 lessees. The old lease permitted a maxi- 

 mum of 100,000 per annum: but the 

 agent of the department in 1899, re- 

 ported that it was not possible or proper 

 to kill more than 60,000 in 1890, and 

 that that number should be fixed as the 

 maximum in the new lease, to date from 

 May 1, 1890, for 20 years. 



Secretary Windom, accordingly, so 

 ordered it. His action stirred up bitter 

 criticism by the new lessees. He there- 

 fore sent for me and asked me to make 

 an investigation of the conditions as I 

 should find them on the islands. An 

 Act of Congress approved April 22, 

 1874, was my warrant for going as Sec- 

 retary Windom's special agent for that 

 purpose. I landed on the Seal Islands 

 May 21, 1890, and went to work. I re- 

 turned and placed the finished report in 



Mr. Windom's hands on November 19, 

 1890. 



I reported that I had found a "scant 

 million" of seals in the herd which num- 

 bered 4,700,000 in 1872-74. I urged 

 an immediate suspension of all work 

 of the lessees and submitted those rec- 

 ords of that killing which warranted this 

 suspension. I also asked that steps be 

 taken to induce Great Britain to co-op- 

 erate with us at once so as to prevent 

 any and all pelagic sealing, which had 

 suddenly become since 1886 a positive 

 and certain menace to the life of the 

 herd. 



I objected to the claims being made 

 by Mr. Blaine of certain jurisdiction 

 over the open waters of Bering Sea and 

 of a property right in the bodies of the 

 seals no matter where and when they 

 were found at sea. I was so insistent 

 on this objection that I parted company 

 with Secretary Blaine April 22, 1891, 

 and withdrew from any and all connec- 

 tion with the Government in the prepa- 

 ration and submission of the case to the 

 Bering Sea Tribunal at Paris. 1891-93, 

 inclusive. 



The result of the work of that tribu- 

 nal, when fully disclosed by the end of 

 the season of 1894. declared its flat fail- 

 ure to save the fur seal herd of Alaska 

 from the destruction it was to prevent. 

 Then ensued attempts to re-open and 

 revise these abortive rules and regula- 

 tions of the Bering Sea Tribunal begun 

 in 1895 by Governor Dingley in the 

 House and renewed by him in 1896, only 

 to end in the failure of each and every 

 move made to that end, until John Hay 

 took the subject up in 1900-1904 with 

 me. The Act of April 8, 1904, which 

 re-opened and provided for a revision 

 of the Bering Sea Tribunal's award, 

 was secured by my active personal work 

 and I was then asked 1)\- Mr. Hay to 

 frame up a treaty of settlement for this 

 vexatious dispute. 



