186 ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 



of May, and at other times not till about the middle of Jnne and it 

 seemed to me, in connection with the zone, to say that no pelagic sealer 

 should go into Behring Sea at all till the 1st July, gves an ample 

 margin, for all the bunclied up herd of female seals desirous to get to 

 the Pribilof Island to get there in safety without any attack upon tlie 

 herd as it was travelling to the islands. There I am tempted to remind 

 you, Mr. President, of a fact called to our attention by JMr. Justice 

 Harlan — in my judgment not without significance, and that is that the 

 great majority of sealing vessels interfered with in the Behring Sea 

 were upon the migration route — you know the route I mean from the 

 Passes to the Islands. 



It is not conclusive because it may be that harm might be done else- 

 where but at any rate it shows that in those years a number of those 

 vessels saw the migration route was a place where pelagic sealing 

 might be successfully carried on. Therefore, taking July the 1st as 

 the date up to which no pelagic sealing should be carried on in Behring 

 Sea, you secure the whole herd being in Behring Sea, as far as the 

 herd is concerned, and in addition to that, you leave the zone that was 

 spoken of as a further protected belt, to which I need not give a 

 further reference. 



I«fow, I do not know if the observation as to commencing sealing at a 

 certain date was directed as much to inside Behring Sea as outside; 

 but fixed dates can be easily observed. Vessels can only enter through 

 certain Passes; they are not likely to go right the way round to the 

 West. It is easier to "police" the matter, to use my learned friend, 

 Sir Charles Eussell's phrase, if the date is fixed; because vessels must 

 keep logs and, of course, that would enable a check to be kept. 



iSTow, I come to the part outside; and a question was put by a Mem- 

 ber of the Tribunal, What information can you give as to the 1st of 

 May being sufBcient for vessels clearing from those ports! 



Let us take the ordinary state of things. I am assuming Eegula- 

 tions applying to sailing schooner. This Tribunal will be able to have 

 assistance in this matter practically from some of its Members. If a 

 schooner could make in the day of 24 honrs a course of from 100 to 120 

 miles, I mean a course on the Chart, she would do pretty well. Of 

 course, a schooner will sail 10 or 12 or 13 knots an hour, but that is 

 only the way that the wind will take her; and vshe might have strong 

 adverse winds. The distance is about 1,500 miles from Unimak to 

 Victoria; and, allowing a vessel to clear away by the 1st of May, if she 

 went post haste, you could not calculate her getting there before the 

 middle of May. 



But that is not the course the vessels would take, because they do 

 not go out for the straight voyage. They go out for the purpose of 

 sealing, and the Commissioner's Beport shows this, that, as soon as 

 they come to the seals, they begin to seal and follow them u]), and it is 

 in order to let the female part of the herd, which is well ahead, get still 

 further ahead, and get into the Behring Sea by the end of May or the 

 beginning of June that that suggestion is made. 



Lord Hannen. — Is it your suggestion that until the first May all 

 sealing should be prohibited everywhere. 



Sir EiCHARD Webster. — Until the first May no sealing vessel 

 should clear from any of those ports. 



Lord Hannen. — Sujjpose they do not clear from those ports, but 

 come from, I do not know where. 



Sir SiciiARD Webster. — I meant as far as Caiiadian vessels and 

 United States vessels are concerned they should be licensed and clear 



