BUREAU OF FISHEEIES XXIX 



protection and conservation of the North American fur-seal herd, 

 which has its breeding grounds at the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. 

 Since 1911 there has been a steady growth of the herd, numbering 

 at that time about 125,000. There has also been a corresponding de- 

 velopment of facilities for the expeditious conduct of the work at 

 the Pribilof Islands. 



Sealing operations in the season of 1930 included the taking and 

 curing of sealskins and the marking and reserving of an adequate 

 number of 3-3^ear-old male seals for future breeding stock. For 

 the first time there were no fall killings, as the plan has been 

 adopted to preserve in cold storage such seal meat as may be re- 

 quired for food by the natives during the winter. Attention was 

 given to the care of herds of blue foxes on St. Paul and St. George 

 Islands and to the taking of fox skins. 



Good progress was made during the 3^ear in the construction of 

 new buildings, the erection of a dock at East Landing, and the ex- 

 tension of improved roads. The new by-products plant, which was, 

 begun in the spring of 1930, was completed; ancl equipment was 

 installed in the season of 1931. 



The service of the new tender Penguin was of very material ad- 

 vantage in the conduct of the bureau's work at the Pribilofs. A 

 number of voyages were made to Seattle during the year, as well as 

 frequent interisland trips and contacts with points along the 

 Alaska Peninsula. 



A staff of employees at the Pribilofs directed the work per- 

 formed by resident natives ancl by temporary native workmen from 

 the Aleutian Islands and the mainland who assisted with the work 

 in the summer. The temporary labor is employed at a specified 

 wage, but the Pribilof natives are virtual wards of the Government 

 who are provided with the necessaries of life, including medical 

 and educational aid, in return for their services. They receive cash 

 payments also, at the rate of 75 cents for each sealskin and $5 for 

 each fox skin taken, as well as some additional compensation for 

 special services. At the close of the calendar year 1930 the native 

 population of the Pribilof Islands numbered 375 persons. 



The annual supplies for the Pribilof Islands were transported 

 from Seattle, Wash., on the IT. S. S. Sirius, through the cooperation 

 of the Navy Department. The vessel carried a shipment of seal- 

 skins on the return voyage. Assistance was rendered also by the 

 U. S. Coast Guard in patrolling waters frequented by the fur-seal 

 herd. 



SEAL HERD 



Computations showed a total of 1,045,101 fur seals in the Pribilof 

 Islands herd on August 10, 1930— an increase of 73,574 animals, or 

 7.57 per cent, over the corresponding figure for 1929. 



TAKE OF SEALSKINS 



In the calendar year 1930 there were taken on the Pribilof 

 Islands 42,500 fur-seal skins, of which 34,382 were from St. Paul 

 Island and 8,118 from St. George Island. This was an increase of 

 2,432 over the number taken in 1929. 



