REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISUERIES. 61 



more tlian S^ pountls g;roen, which hmits embraced pelts from 3-year- 

 okl or the hirger 2-year-okl baclielor seals. No killing was permitted 

 until there had been made a reservation of 1,000 of the finest 3-ycar- 

 old males for breeding purposes. No quota of seals to be killed was 

 decided on in advance, as it was the policy to take only such seals of 

 ki liable size and age as remained after the reservation had been 

 made. 



The number of skms shipped in 1911 was 9,554 from St. Paul 

 Island and 2,448 from St. George, a total of 12,002.' These were sent 

 to London and sold at public auction on December 15, 1911, by Messrs. 

 C. M. Lampson & Co., who acted as agents for the Government in 

 the matter. The net proceeds of the sale were $385,862.28, for which 

 sum a certified check was duly received and covered into the Treasury. 

 Under the leasing system which prevailed prior to 1910 the Govern- 

 ment would have received only $122,720.45 for the season's take. 



MINOR FUR RESOUECES. 



The blue-fox herds on the Pribilof Islands were managed by the 

 Government for the first time in the winter of 1910-11. The skins 

 taken were shipped to London wuth the fur-seal skins and sold under 

 the same auspices on March 18 and 19, 1912. The consignment 

 consisted of 371 blue skins and 20 white skins, and the net proceeds 

 therefrom were $15,096.58. Some of the blue-fox skins brought 

 $85 apiece, and the average price was over $44. The Bureau is 

 making special efforts to improve the stock of foxes and the methods 

 of handling the herds. The results of experiments in feeding and 

 selective breeding that are now in progress give reason to believe 

 that the output can be greatly increased and the quality of the fur 

 enhanced. 



To enable the Department to carry out the duties with reference 

 to the fur-bearing animals of xVhiska imposed by the act of April 21, 

 1910, Congress has provided for a small force of wardens (one chief 

 warden and four deputies), who have been duly selected and appointed 

 and have been in the field continuously since the summer of 1911. 

 The wardens have been assigned to the more important fur-produc- 

 ing regions, where they live with the hunters and trappers, study 

 their methods, advise them as to the requirements and objects of 

 the laws, make investigations of the habits and distribution of the 

 different fur-bearing animals, and note the condition of the fur of 

 each species in each month in order to determine for each region 

 when that fur is prime. A further duty of the wardens is to create 



1 By inadvertence 4 skins taken from Japanese poachers July 30, 1910, and shipped to London with the 

 consignment of that year were stated in the annual report of the Alaska Fisheries Service (Bureau of 

 Fisheries Document No. 760) to have been included in the shipment for 1911. The actual number 

 shipped in 1911 was 12,002, not 12,000 as stated on page 95 and indicated on page 96 of that document. 

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