84 



ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1917. 



Record of Fur Seals Killed on St. George Island in the Calendar Year 



1916. 



Date. 



June 9 



13 

 15 

 22 

 22 

 24 

 27 

 29 



July 1 

 5 

 7 

 11 

 12 

 15 

 16 

 22 

 24 

 27 

 29 



Aug. 1 



Hauling ground driven. 



Kastriifls... 



Zapadni 



North 



Starava Artil 



Zapadni 



East Cliffs... 



North 



Staraya ArtD 

 F.ast Cliffs... 



North 



Fast Cliffs... 

 Starava Artil 



North 



East Cliffs... 



Zapadni 



do 



North 



Zapadni 



East Cliffs... 

 North 



Num- 

 ber. 



32 

 2 



34 



49 



1 



12'i 



201 



55 

 115 

 169 

 10 J 



71 



295 



355 



1 



1 



128 



22 

 lOi 

 120 



Date. 



Aug. 3 

 5 

 8 



10 



10 



Oct. 16 



20 



23 



27 



Nov. 1 



2 



8 



9 



10 

 14 

 16 

 22 



Hauling ground driven. 



East Cliffs , 



North , 



East Cliffs 



North , 



Zapadni 



Staraya Artil 



East 



Staraya Artil and North 



Zapadni 



North 



Staraya .\rtil 



East Reef 



North 



North and Staraya .\rtil 



North 



Staraya Artil 



Total 



Num- 

 ber. 



213 



145 



40 



94 



1 



1 



40 

 78 



a 72 

 106 

 34 

 26 



6 33 

 12 

 10 



2, 985 



a Includes 1 which died on killmg field. 



6 Includes 1 pup accidentally injured. 



The number of skins obtained at the Pribilofs does not necessarily 

 correspond exactly with the number of seals killed, for from time to 

 time a merchantable skin may be obtained from a seal found dead. 



Resumption of commercial hillings. — The drastic restrictions placed 

 upon the killing of fur seals on the Pribilof Islands by the act of Con- 

 gress, approved August 24, 1912, giving effect to the North Pacific 

 Sealing Convention of July 7, 1911, terminated August 24, 1917. For 

 five years the killing of seals at the islands had been limited by law 

 to the number of animals required for the immediate use of the native 

 inhabitants. The Department planned to place killing operations 

 on a commercial basis upon the termination of the five-year period. 

 Inasmuch as the Governments of Great Britain and Japan are each 

 entitled to a share of sealskins taken commercially on the Pribilof 

 Islands, the time when commercial operations began must be clearly 

 established. This date was August 25, 1917. The number of skins 

 taken on the Pribilofs in the period beginning August 25 and ending 

 December 31; 1917, both dates inclusive, was 1,943. Eleven hundred 

 and sixty-six were taken on St. Paul Island and 777 on St. George 

 Island. Of these 1,943 skins, 1,831 were shipped from the Pribilofs 

 in December, 1,054 from St. Paul, and 777 from St. George. 



UTILIZ.VTION OF WASTE PRODUCTS. 



The Bureau continued throughout the year its efforts to utilize in 

 economic wa3^s products of the Pribilofs which have in the past either 

 in part or wholly gone to waste. A serious handicap is the isolation 

 of the islands, which sometimes results in months elapsing before the 

 completion of investigations which under ordinary conditions could 

 be completed in as many weeks or even days. 



Among the products which the Bureau has endeavored to develop 

 are bones remaining from former killings of seals and sea lions, seal 

 intestines as sausage casings, oil and gelatine from seal carcasses, 

 corned seal shoulders, canned meat, and the gullets or throats of seals. 



