ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 193 3 305 



At the auction sale on Anjiust 28, the Government disposed of 560 

 bhie fox skins for $10,329.50, an avera«re of $29.1C per skin, and 22 

 white fox skins for $490, an avera<>;e of $22.55 per skin. 



Prices at tlie May sale ranged from $09 for a no. I silvery pelt 

 down to $10 for pelts graded as nos. Ill and IV. Comparable prices 

 at the August sale were $82 for a no. I silvery pelt and $8.50 for nos. 

 Ill and iV of the poorest quality. These prices indicate, however, 

 an improved market for fox skins as compared with that of 1932, 

 the advance in average price for blue fox pelts from September 26, 

 1932, to August 28, 1933, being 72.24 percent. 



SEA-OTTER SKINS 



In December 1932 the Sanditz Commission Co., St. Louis, Mo., 

 obtained possession of 12 unauthenticated sea-otter skins which w^ere 

 alleged to have been found by the master of the halibut fishing boat 

 Northwestern in a floating oil drum off the Barren Islands, near the 

 entrance to Cook Inlet, Alaska. As no evidence was produced show- 

 ing that these skins were lawfully possessed, they were forfeited to 

 the Government and were sold at public auction on May 15 at St. 

 Louis for $2,207. This was the largest seizure of sea-otter skins 

 that had been made in many years. 



FUR-SEAL PATROL 



UNITED STATES COAST GUARD 



Six vessels of the Coast Guard were detailed by the Secretary of 

 the Treasury to patrol duty along the coast of Washington and 

 Alaska during the migration of the fur seals to the Pribilof Islands, 

 Beginning in April, the Snoho'niish guarded the seals in their north- 

 ward journey from the southern boundary of Washington to Dixon 

 Entrance; the Tallapoosa^ from April 15 to 30, between Dixon En- 

 trance and Kodiak, and from May 1 to 15 betAveen Kodiak and 

 Unimak Pass. The Shoshone was assigned to Bering Sea from May 

 to July but was replaced by the Chelan in July, which with the 

 Alert beginning in May and the Tahoe in June continued to patrol 

 those waters westward to Attn until the end of the season. The 

 Northland assisted in this work on its voyage to and from the 

 Arctic Ocean, where it rendered service during the summer to the 

 settlements on the northern coast of Alaska. This patrol was main- 

 tained under the authority of the law giving effect to the convention 

 of July 7, 1911, for the protection of the North American fur-seal 

 herd. 



BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Two vessels of the Bureau w^ere detailed to seal-patrol duty for a 

 limited time in the spring of 1933. The Brant was operated in the 

 vicinity of Neah Bay, Wash., from April 9 to May 12, and the 

 Widgeon for approximately 1 month, beginning the middle of April, 

 in the region of Sitka, Alaska. The aborigines carry on pelagic 

 sealing in both of these localities during the northward migration 

 of the seals. 



