332 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 LEATHER FROM SEAL SKINS. 



The seals whose skins are utilized for making leather are quite des- 

 titute of the coat of choice fur which gives to the fur-seals their great 

 commercial prominence. Yet on account of the valuable products of 

 leather and oil, the economic importance of this group of animals is 

 scarcely less than that of the fur-seals. They are found in various 

 northern waters, especially off the northern coast of Labrador and 

 Newfoundland, in the waters of Greenland, the Arctic Ocean north of 

 Europe, along the Nova Scotia and New England coasts, in the North- 

 ern Pacific Ocean, in the Caspian Sea, and to a much less extent in 

 the Antarctic seas. 



The principal sealing districts in the north are Newfoundland, Jan 

 May en Seas, Nova Zembla, Kara Sea, and the White Sea. The 

 Newfoundland fishery is by far the most extensive. It ranks among 

 the most venturesome and important of all the marine industries of 

 the world, giving direct employment to 5,000 men, while thousands 

 of others are engaged in preparing the resultant products of leather 

 and oil. American vessels have not engaged in this fisher}^ except in 

 a few instances, but the fishermen of Scotland unite with those of 

 Newfoundland in reaping large returns from the seal hunt oft' the 

 northeast coast of America. 



According to Mr. Robert Badcoek, the total product of seals in the 

 Newfoundland fishery in 1901 approximated 3-15,000, of which 27,000 

 were young hoods or bluebacks, 13,000 were old hoods, 10,000 old 

 harps, 1,000 bedlamers, and the remaining 291,000 were whitecoats or 

 young harps. The catch of bluebacks was far greater than usual, the 

 average take of that variety not exceeding 5,000 in one season. A 

 small percentage of the whitecoats are known as "fast furs," the long, 

 thick woolly or hairy covering not easily separating from the pelt, as 

 the name implies. These are usually very j^oung animals, less than 

 fifteen days old. Owing to the vessels reaching the seals quickly in 

 1901 a larger number of fast furs were secured than usual, the total 

 amounting to about 10,000, whereas it is usually much less. In the 

 markets these are commonly known as wool-seal skins. 



After discharge from the vessels the pelts pass through the hands 

 of the "skinners," who remove the blubber, take out the flippers, cut 

 off the noses, etc. The skins are at once dry-salted and placed one 

 over the other, with the flesh side uppermost, in piles of small height. 

 There they remain for about three weeks, when they are sufliciently 

 cured for shipment to Europe or the United States to be tanned. 



After removal of the blubber the skins of the young harp seals 

 average 5 or 6 pounds each in weight, and are worth about SO or 85 

 cents at the present time. Bedlamers' skins average about 12 pounds 

 in weight and $1.30 in value, and old harps, from 11 to 18 pounds in 

 weight and 90 cents in value. The skins of the young hood or blue- 

 back seal weigh or 7 pounds and sell for al)out $1.35 each, and the 



