ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 159 
Summary of all Government-owned fur-seal skins under control of Department of 
Commerce, calendar year 1938 


















Disposed of 
On hand Jan. 1 a in 1938 On hand Dec. 31 
Source pains 
Wash- Deliv- Wash- 
pone ington | Total | 1938 | gales | ered to oe ington | Total 
‘| office Canada "| office 
Taken on Pribilof Islands: 
Calendar year 1918, held 
for reference purpoSes- _|____---- i (fil ae See er ele eee Ui 7 
Calendar year 1923__.____|____-_-- 3 BEE GA 8S Oe ee RO ee a 3 3 
Calendar year 1924_______|_______- 1 aU fe eee re be ae Core eer eae 1 1 
Calendar year 1929_____..|______-- 5 OS | ee ee | eee se Pee ae ee ey ee 5 5 
Calendar year 1930___-_-_|____-__- 2 2 EE Ee TS S| is rt P| 2 pie gs © 2 2 
Calendar year 1935_____-_ oi hae o4|- eee By | se [ee Soa | ee 
Calendar year 1936______- QUS5 74 HERI ts _&& D155 747 |S Eee SE 21/569) aes iF Ae ss ees 5 
Calendar year 1937_____-- 465903) |. 2-4 =. 46) 903).|* 43-2. == 23, 659 |____-.-- 28; 2845 Eee 23, 244 
CEUTA GTR AGE Ved AEB Y Hee see oe ea he | aca 587364" Cos S750" 49) (609) | ween seen 49, 609 
Miscellaneous skins held for 
reference purposes: ---_-2=2=| ==. --- 4 | ee eee | eee ne |e eee (oe eens 4  & 
United States’ share of Jap- 
anese sealskins: Season of 
ee eee See eee a on | see ee FAN Vo) ase Sad ler KO) nl east te 210 
Mitotane 68, 480 22 | 68,502 | 58,574 | 45,231 | 8,755 | 73,068 22 | 73,090 





SHIPMENT AND SALE OF FOX SKINS 
The 231 blue and 15 white fox skins taken on St. Paul Island and 
the 616 blue and 1 white fox skins taken on St. George Island in the 
season of 1937-38 were shipped from the islands on the Penguin, 
sailing on March 15. The vessel reached Seattle on March 29, and the 
fox skins were forwarded by express to the Department’s selling agents 
at St. Louis, Mo. 
At the public auction sale in St. Louis on May 2, 1938, 501 blue and 
1 white fox skins of the 1936-37 season’s take were sold. The blue 
pelts brought $12,423.00, including $40 for one dressed skin, and the 
average selling price of the raw blue pelts was $24.77. The single 
white pelt was sold dressed for $15. One fine silvery pelt brought 
$85, which was the maximum price obtained for a single pelt. 
On October 10, 1938, there were sold at public auction at St. Louis 
423 blue and 16 white fox skins taken on the Pribilof Islands in the 
1937-38 season. The blue pelts brought $10,295.00, an average of 
$24.34 per skin; and the white pelts sold for $216.00, or $13.50 each. 
The maximum price obtained was $72, for a single skin. 
FUR-SEAL PATROL 
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD 
Vessels of the Coast Guard were again assigned by the Treasury 
Department to patrol waters along the route of the Alaska fur seals 
during their northward migration to the Pribilof Islands. Twelve 
‘cutters and patrol vessels were instrumental in enforcing the laws 
and regulations for the protection of fur seals and sea otters in the 
North Pacific and Bering Sea. 
On March 15 the cutter Onondaga began the regular patrol of the 
Washington coast between the Columbia River entrance and the 
Strait of Juan de Fuca. Several prelimimary cruises were made by 
