XXX EEPORT TO THE SECEETAEY OF COMMERCE 



MARKING RESERVED SEALS 



In the calendar year 1930 there were marked and reserved for 

 future breeding stock G,539 three-year-old male seals, of which 

 4,918 were on St. Paul Island and 1,621 on St. George Island. In- 

 cluded in the reserve also were a large number of seals of this age 

 class that were not taken up in the drives. 



SALE OF SEALSKINS 



Two public auction sales of fur-seal skins taken on the Pribilof 

 Islands were held at St. Louis, Mo., in the fiscal year 1931. On 

 September 15, 1930, there were sold 11,075 black-clyed, 8,307 log- 

 wood brown-dyed, and 99 miscellaneous unhaired and raw-salted 

 skins for a gross sum of $357,990.25. In addition 1 confiscated skin 

 dressed in hair brought $1.75. 



At the second sale, held on March 30, 1931, 11,503 black-dyed and 

 9,568 logwood brown-dyed skins were sold for $453,699.75. At the 

 same time 137 black-dyed and 33 raw-salted Japanese fur-seal skins 

 sold for $3,172. These 170 skins were the United States Govern- 

 ment's share of sealskins taken by the Japanese Government in 

 1929. There were also sold 2 confiscated fur-seal skins, which 

 brought $1. 



Special sales of sealskins authorized by the Secretary of Com- 

 merce in the fiscal year 1931 consisted of 110 black-dyed, 188 log- 

 wood brown-dyed, 60 raw-salted, and 16 miscellaneous skins for 

 display purposes, at a total of $10,068.74. All were taken at the 

 Pribilof Islands. 



FOXES 



The management of blue-fox herds on St. Paul and St. George 

 Islands as an adjunct to the fur-seal industr}^ gives work to the 

 natives in the winter when sealing activities are at a minimum and 

 is the source of no little revenue to the Government from the sale 

 of the pelts. 



Seven hundred and forty-five blue and 32 white fox skins taken 

 in the season of 1929-30 were sold at public auction in the fiscal year 

 1931. The blue pelts brought $26,743 and the whites $992, a total 

 of $27,735. 



In the season of 1930-31, 211 blue and 24 white fox skins were 

 taken on St. Paul Island and 678 blue and 2 white skins on St. 

 George Island, a total of 915 skins. Fifty foxes on St. Paul Island 

 and 313 on St. George Island were trapped, marked, and released 

 for breeding purposes. The breeding reserve includes also a con- 

 siderable number of foxes that were not captured during the season. 



FUR-SEAL SKINS TAKEN BY NATIVES 



Pursuant to the provisions of the North Pacific Sealing Conven- 

 tion of July 7, 1911, Indians under the jurisdiction of the United 

 States and Canada took 2,832 fur-seal skins which were duly authen- 

 ticated by officials of the respective Governments. Of these skins, 



