BUREAU OF FISHERIES XXXI 
MARKING OF RESERVED SEALS 
In 1926 the bureau marked 9,565 3-year-old male seals to be re- 
served for a future breeding stock, of which 7,558 were on St. Paul 
Island and 2,007 on St. George Island. In addition to the seals 
marked, there were remaining ‘at the end of the year the 3-year-old 
males that never were taken up in driving operations. The method 
of marking was to clip a patch of fur from the upper part of each 
animal so that it might readily be distinguished thereafter. 
SALE OF SEALSKINS 
In the fiscal year 1927 two public-auction sales of fur-seal skins 
taken on the Pribilof Islands were held at St. Louis, Mo. The first 
sale was held on October 11, 1926, when 6,767 black dyed, 1,250 log- 
wood-brown dyed, 54 golden- chestnut dy ed, and 3 dressed "skins, a 
total of 8,074, were sold ‘ata eross price of $308,844. At the same time 
181 Japanese fur-seal skins were sold for $4. 402, of which 151 were 
dyed black and 30 were raw salted. These 181 skins were the United 
States Government’s share of sealskins taken by the Japanese Gov- 
ernment in 1924 and 1925. In 1926 the Government received 132 
skins as its share of Japanese sealskins. There were also sold one 
confiscated sealskin (black dyed) and four pieces of confiscated 
dressed and dyed sealskin for "$42, 
At the second sale, held on May 28, 1927, 11,611 black dyed, 1,526 
logwood-brown dyed, and 91 faulty skins, a total of 13, 228, were sold 
at a gross price of $436, 566.20. 
Special sales of sealskins in the fiscal year 1927 consisted of 68 
raw salted, 50 black dyed, and 7 logwood- brown dyed skins at a gross 
price of $4,324. 04, ~All were taken. at the Pribilof Islands. 
FOXES 
Fox feeding was comtinued on both St. Paul and St. George Islands 
in the winter of 1926-27. Specially prepared food was used, and in 
addition preserved seal meat was fed on St. George Island. 
There were sold at public auction on October 11, 1926, at St. Louis, 
Mo., 465 blue-fox skins taken at the Pribilof Islands. The @ross 
price realized was $24,740. Three hundred and forty of these skins 
were taken in the season of 1924-25, and 125 in the season of 1925-26. 
There were also sold at the same sale, for $1.50, three skins taken from 
foxes that died in course of shipment from the Pribilofs. 
In the season of 1926-27, 118 blue and 27 white skins were taken 
on St. Paul Island and 610 blue and 3 white skins on St. George 
Island, a total of 758 skins. During the season of 1926-27, 125 males 
and 108 females were marked and released for breeding purposes on 
St. Paul Island and 205 males and 202 females on St. George Island. 
The stock actually reserved for breeding was larger, because a con- 
siderable number of animals are never caught at all. In order to 
improve the herds on each island, 10 pairs of foxes from St. Paul 
were released on St. George Island, and a similar transfer was made 
from St. George Island to St. Paul Island. 
