46 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



from the department. A patrol of the sealing grounds was main- 

 tained by the bureau's vessel Murre, Vessels of the Coast Guard 

 carried out the usual extensive patrol during the migration from the 

 waters off the coasts of Oregon and Washington, following the herd 

 to the Bering Sea and patrolling waters adjacent to the Pribilof 

 Islands and Aleutian Islands during the summer. 



TAKE OF SEALSKINS. 



The number of seals killed under governmental supervision on the 



^ Pribilof Islands in 1921 was 23,671, of which 22,5(0 were taken dur- (^ 

 ing the regular season ending August 5 and the remainder in the 

 fall and winter. Seals 3 and 4 years old yielded 22,916 of tlie total ^ 

 number of skins secured. — ~ — * 



The quota of seals to be killed during the calendar year 1922 was 

 tentatively fixed at 25,000, all 3-year-old males. At the time of the 

 visit of the Assistant Secretary's party to the Pribilofs in July the 

 quota was increased to 30,000 3-year-old males, of which 25,000 were 

 to be secured on St. Paul Island and 5,000 on St. George. Up to 

 August 5, when killing ceased, 30,260 skins of all ages had been taken. 

 Killings in the fall after October 20 will add a considerable number 

 to this total. 



As a result of experimental work carried on at St. Paul Island by 

 representatives of the Fouke Fur Co. a large number of the skins 

 taken are now handled by methods much changed from those for- 

 merly in use. In the past the pelts have been removed by the native 

 workmen in the ordinary manner of skinning animals, which at times 

 resulted in cuts or flays that lessened the market value of the skin. 

 Under the new method the knife is used only to slit the skin along the 

 abdomen and to cut around the head and flipper holes. The carcass 

 is then pinned to the ground by means of an iron bar and the pelt is 

 pulled off. The layer of blubber and meat that remains attached is 

 removed when the skin is blubbered by a force of employees detailed 

 from the dressing and dyeing company. The skins are then washed 

 in running sea water and salted. Washing tanks and additional salt- 

 house facilities have been provided to carry on this Avork. 



SALES OF SEALSKINS. 



In the fiscal year 1922 two public auction sales of fur-seal skins 

 were held at St. Louis. At the sale on September 28, 1921, 10,778 

 skins brought $333,772, and on April 3, 1922, 12,198 skins were sold 

 for $388,288, a total of 22,976 skins and $722,060. The better grades 

 of skins brought slightly higher prices than in previous sales, but the 

 large number of low-grade sldns from the killing of surplus old males 

 kept the average at practically the same as in the sales the preceding 

 year. 



At the sale on April 3, 1922, there w^ere also sold 56 sealskins from 

 the Japanese herd on Kobben Island, representing the share of the 

 United States in the skins taken in 1920. These 56 skins brought 

 $1,276. 



As a result of the sales of fur-seal skins from the Pribilof Islands 

 in the fiscal year 1922 the sum of $94,634.16 has been paid to Great 



