90 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 
SEAL HERD 
The computed number of animals in the Pribilof Islands fur-seal 
herd on August 10, 1936, was 1,689,743, an increase of 138,830, or 
8.95 percent over the number for the preceding year. 
TAKE OF SEALSKINS 
In the calendar year 1936 there were taken on the Pribilof Islands 
52,446 fur-seal skins, of which 43,522 were from St. Paul Island and 
8,924 from St. George Island. This was a decrease of 4,850 from the 
{otal take in 1935. 
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 1937, and several 
hundred skins were disposed of at private sales under special authori- 
zation of the Secretary of Commerce. In all, 42,793 Pribilof Islands 
sealskins were sold during the year for a gross sum of $1,274,185.06. 
FOXES 
The take of foxskins in the 1936-87 season consisted of 97 blue 
and 9 white skins on St, Paul Island, and 902 blue and 4 white skins 
on St. George Island, a total of 1,012. One hundred foxes on St. 
Paul Island and 113 on St. George Island were marked and released 
for breeding stock. 
In the fiscal year 1937 there were sold at public auction 1,019 blue- 
and 15 white-fox skins that had been taken on the Pribilof Islands 
in the 1935-86 season. The blue pelts brought $27,502.50, and the 
white pelts $238, a total of $27,740.50. 
FUR-SEAL SKINS TAKEN BY NATIVES 
The privilege of taking fur seals at sea is granted to aborigines 
dwelling along the Pacific coast of North America, under provisions 
of the fur-seal treaty, although such sealing is restricted to primitive 
methods. In accordance therewith, Indians of the United States and 
Canada in 1936 took 1,927 fur-seal skins, which were authenticated by 
officials of the respective Governments. Of these skins, 11 were 
taken by Indians of southeast Alaska, 28 by Indians of Washington, 
and 1,888 by Indians of British Columbia. 
FUR-SEAL PATROL 
Five cutters and four patrol boats of the United States Coast 
Guard were detailed to the patrol for the protection of fur seals dur- 
ing their northward migration and while at the Pribilof Islands. 
Three vessels of the Bureau also participated in this work in 1936, 
two at Neah Bay and one in southeast Alaska. 
PROTECTION OF SEA OTTERS, WALRUSES, AND SEA LIONS 
The killing of walruses and sea lions in Alaska is permitted only 
under limited conditions, and the killing of sea otters is prohibited 
