BUREAU OF FISHERIES 105 



The annual supplies for the Pribilof Islands were shipped from 

 Seattle on the U. S. S. Sirius, through the cooperation of the Navy 

 Department. On the return trip to Seattle this vessel carried the 

 season's take of sealskins and 162 tons of seal meal from the by- 

 products plant. 



As the Navy Department's radio facilities at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, 

 have recently been expanded, the maintenance of the St. Paul Island 

 station as a link in the Coast Signal Service is no longer necessary. 

 The St. Paul station was therefore transferred on August 10, 1937, to 

 the Department of Commerce, under a revocable permit, and is being 

 operated on a reduced scale by the Bureau of Fisheries. 



In accordance with the terms of the fur-seal treaty of 1911, delivery 

 of 8,277 fur-seal skins, or 15 percent of the season's take, was made 

 to the Canadian Government. Japan continued to receive its 15 per- 

 cent share in the take from the proceeds of sale of the remaining skins. 

 The United States received a shipment of 210 Robben Island fur-seal 

 skins, taken by Japan in 1937. This represented the annual 10 percent 

 share due this country under the terms of the fur-seal treatj^ 



SEAL HERD 



The total number of animals in the Pribilof Islands fur-seal herd 

 on August 10, 1937, was computed as 1,839,119. This is an increase 

 of 149,376 over the computed number in the preceding year. 



TAKE OF SEALSKINS 



In the calendar year 1937 there were taken on the Pribilof Islands 

 55,180 fur-seal skins, of which 44,068 were taken from St. Paul Island 

 and 11,112 from St. George Island. This is an increase of 2,734 over 

 the total taken in 1936. Insofar as possible, killings were from the 

 3-year-old males, a suitable number of this age class having been 

 reserved for breeding stock. 



SALE OF SEALSKINS 



Two public auction sales of fur-seal skins were held at St. Louis, 

 Mo., in the fiscal year 1938. At the sale on September 27, 1937, there 

 were sold 7,000 skins dyed black, 12,580 skins dyed Safari brown, and 

 147 miscellaneous skins, for a gross total of $420,640. On May 2, 1938, 

 7,100 skins dyed black and 12,849 dyed Safari brown brought a gross 

 sum of $432,622.25. 



Sealskins sold at private sales under special authorization by the 

 Secretary of Commerce consisted of 474 dyed black, 398 dyed Safari 

 brown, and 2 raw salted skins, which brought a gross sum of $21,- 

 102.81. In all, 40,550 fur-seal skins were sold for the account of the 

 Government in the fiscal year 1938, for a total gross sum of 

 $874,365.06. 



FOXES 



The blue fox herds maintained on St. Paul and St. George Islands 

 continued to thrive, and the taking of fox pelts provided the natives 

 with employment during the relatively inactive winter months. The 

 herds require very little attention and are a profitable adjunct to the 



