Each sealskin is stripped from the carcass by 

 the Aleut sealers in a matter of seconds. The 

 day's collection of skins is transported by trucks 

 to the village processing plant. Here they are 

 thoroughly soaked in cold sea water, blubbered, 

 and brine-cured. Boric-acid powder is applied 

 to the skin side of each cured and drained pelt 

 to prevent bacterial action, and a small quantity 

 of salt is sprinkled over the skins as they are 

 packed in barrels for shipment to the mainland, 

 where they are held in cold storage until pro- 

 cessed. 



On St. Paul Island from 1918 to 1961, most 

 of the carcasses and the blubber removed from 



the skins were converted to meal and oil in a 

 byproducts plant operated by the Government. 

 About 350 tons of meal and 40,000 gallons of 

 oil were produced each season and sold to the 

 highest bidder at Seattle, Wash. The meal was 

 used as a protein supplement in animal feeds, 

 and oil was used in soap making and tanning. 

 On St. George Island the number of carcasses 

 has never been sufficient to justify a reduction 

 operation, but much of the blubber from that 

 island is salted and later cold pressed to extract 

 oil for tanning seal skins. The byproducts plant 

 operation became uneconomical after 1961 and 

 was discontinued. The use of seal meat to feed 

 mink is being tested. 



Processing and Sale of Fur Seal Skins 



The processing and sale of all Government- 

 owned skins is by a private company serving as 

 agent for the Government. About 100 different 

 operations by highly skilled workmen are in- 

 volved in converting Pribilof Island sealskins in- 

 to the beautiful, soft, supple furs sold to the 

 fur trade at semi-annual auctions. 



The first major step in the processing of seal- 

 skins is the removal of the coarse guard hair that 

 overlies the dense, soft underfur. The pelts are 

 thoroughly washed and subjected to moist heat 

 to loosen the guard hair so it can be extracted 

 by scraping. After the unhairing process, the 

 pelts are tanned and dyed. 



U. S. Government sealskins have been dyed 

 four shades of colors: (1) black, (2) a rich 

 dark brown, (3) a neutral brown with overtones 

 of bluish gray, and (4), a midnight gray with 

 highlights of silver and a subtle blue cast. 

 Closely sheared pelts that arc not unhaired are 

 being introduced onto the market in increasing 

 volume as a new type of garment fur. 



Pelts of northern fur seal have consistently 

 brought the highest prices of all sealskins on 

 the world market. The world human population 

 is increasing rapidly but only moderate increases 

 in the production of seal skins can be expected, 

 a situation that should strengthen the market. 



Six to eight sealskins are needed to make a full 

 coat. Pelts remain the property of the U. S. 

 Government until sold at public auction held 

 semi-annually by the contracting processor for 

 the Government. 



Nearly 2 million sealskins from surplus males 

 have been taken by the Government since restor- 

 ation of the herd was begun 45 years ago. The 

 net profit to the Federal Treasury from the United 

 States share of these skins has exceeded $25 

 million. A portion of the receipts are made 

 available by Congress to the Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries to defray expenses of administering 

 the Pribilof Islands and the fur seal industry; 

 70% of the net proceeds are given to Alaska 

 under terms of its statehood Act. 



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