210 DESCRIPTION OF IMPORTANT FISHERIES AND THEIR PRODUCTS 



mid-August of each year, the seals are driven daily from the hauling 

 grounds to suitable killing fields. During the peak of seal arrival, up to 

 5000 males may be taken in one day from drives containing as many as 

 10,000 animals. 'Tods" of 15 to 25 seals are detached from the main 

 group and continuously moved up to a six-man clubbing team. The club- 

 bers quickly fell the male seals judged to be 41 to 47 inches in length. 



Table 15.1. History of Seal Killing on the 

 Pribilof Islands, 1911-1962 



About 95 per cent of the male seals within these size limits are three or 

 four years old — ages when the fur is of the best commercial quality. Ani- 

 mals that are too small or too large are allowed to return to the hauling 

 grounds. Size criteria for selecting females to be taken are not yet defi- 

 nitely established. The seals are dragged into rows of ten, bled by a knife 

 thrust in the heart, measured, and stripped of their skins by use of 

 specially designed tongs. 



The skins are taken by truck from the killing fields, then washed and 



