THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 313 



permit is necessary to land on the islands. A census of 

 the seal population is taken once a year. This is not 

 as simple a matter as it might seem, for the bulls will 

 not permit any one on the breeding grounds until 

 about August 1, and soon afterward the pups begin 

 swimming. There are more than seven hundred thou- 

 sand seals to count, and they are widely scattered 

 over the rocks and beaches of St. Paul and St. George 

 Islands. If the census is not taken quickly it is of 

 little value, for the seals will have moved around and 

 thus may be counted two or more times, or may not 

 be counted at all. 



The number of skins taken annually is set in ad- 

 vance, so that the animals needed for propagation 

 will not be killed. Only three-year-old males are killed, 

 and a breeding reserve of five thousand male seals of 

 this age is required by law to be set aside. The pur- 

 pose of these restrictions and regulations is to pro- 

 tect the seals from disturbance on their breeding 

 grounds, to prevent the killing of seals by unauthor- 

 ized persons, and to permit the herd to increase to its 

 former numbers. 



Killing 



Inasmuch as one bull may have fifty or more 

 females in his harem, there is a great surplus of 

 males over the number actually required to maintain 

 the herd at its present level. A large number of 

 young males may therefore be killed without dimin- 

 ishing the rate of propagation. Killing is done on 

 land during the breeding season by employees of 

 the United States Bureau of Fisheries. The young 

 bachelors who are not permitted by the mature bulls 



