ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1924 



163 



SEALING PRIVILEGES ACCORDED ABORIGINES 



!■" A totaPcf 1,037 fur-seal skins were authenticated as having been 

 lawfull)' taken in 1924 by Indians in the vraters off the coasts of 

 Washinjj-ton and southeast Alaska. The details are as follows: 



Washingtofi. — One thinisand and twenty-nine skins were authen- 

 ticated, of which 600 were from male seals and 423 from females. 

 A part of the skins were taken from unborn pups. The skins were 

 authenticated by Dr. Carl B. Boyd, superintendent Neah Bay Indian 

 Agency, Neah Bay, Wash. 



SoutJieast Alaska. — Eight skins were authenticated, all of which 

 were from male seals. This small take, in comparison with takes of 

 previous years, was attributed in part to weather conditions unfa- 

 vorable to sealing operations. 



An oflicial report received by the bureau stated that 2,248 seal- 

 skins were taken by the natives of British Columbia in 1924. 



JAPANESE SEALSKINS DELIVERED TO THE UNITED STATES 



The North Pacitic Sealing Convention of July 7, 1911, provides 

 that 10 per cent of the sealskins taken by the Japanese Government 

 within the areas defined by the convention shall be turned over to 

 the United States Government, unless the number of seals frequenting 

 the Japanese islands falls below 6,500, enumerated by official count. 



The first Japanese skins to be allotted to the United States were 

 taken in 1918, and additional skins have accrued to the United 

 States from the take of each year since. These skins are sold at 

 public auction for the account of the United States, and details in 

 regard to them have been published in the corresponding reports 

 for previous years. 



At the beginning of the year 1924 there remained on hand 33 skins 

 taken in 1922. These were sold at public auction in New York City 

 on March 24, 1924. 



The United States Government's share of Japanese sealskins taken 

 in 1923 was 82 skins, which reached St. Louis, Mo., on September 15, 

 1924, and remained unsold at the end of the year. The share of 

 those taken in 1924 was 94 skins, but these had not been received 

 in the United States at the end of the vear. 



SALE OF CONFISCATED SEA-OTTER SKINS 



There were sold at public auction at St. Louis, Mo., on October 

 15, 1924, four sea-otter skins seized from J. W. McCord. The 

 skins brought $1,020, or an average of .$255 per skin. Details are 

 shown in the following tabulation: 



Sale of four sea-otter skins at St. Louis, Mo., October 15, 1924 



