106 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



fur-seal industry. During the 1937-38 season 231 blue and 15 white 

 foxskins were taken on St. Paul Island, and 616 blue and 1 white fox 

 pelt were taken on St. George Island. Sufficient stocks w-ere reserved 

 on each island for breeding purposes. 



One thousand blue and 12 white foxskins, taken on the Pribilof 

 Islands in the 1936-37 season, w^ere sold at public auction in the fiscal 

 year 1938. The blue foxskins brought $25,934 and the white skins 

 brought $146, a total gross sum of $26,080. 



FUR-SEAL SKINS TAKEN BY NATIVES 



Exercising the privilege granted them under the provisions of the 

 North Pacific Sealing Convention of July 7, 1911, the aborigines 

 dwelling on the coast of the North Pacific took a total of 2,832 fur- 

 seal pelts in 1937. Indians under the jurisdiction of the United 

 States took 161 skins and Canadian Indians took 2,671. All these 

 fur-seal skins w^ere duly authenticated by Government officials of the 

 tM^o countries. 



FUR-SEAL PATROL 



Vessels of the Coast Guard were again assigned by the Secretary 

 of the Treasury to patrol the waters of the North Pacific and Bering 

 Sea for the protection of the fur seals and sea otters in those areas. 

 One vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries also participated in the fur-seal 

 patrol during the northward migration of the herd. 



PROTECTION OF SEA OTTERS, WALRUSES, AND SEA LIONS 



A new edition of the regulations for the protection of walruses and 

 sea lions was issued on July 1, 1937, extending the closed season on 

 these animals for 2 years, although permitting their capture, as here- 

 tofore, under certain specified conditions. The killing of sea otters 

 is prohibited at all times. 



PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD AND GAME FISHES 



The hatcheries operated by the Division of Fish Culture released 

 for the stocking of public waters during the fiscal year 1938 a total 

 of 7,822,151,800 fish and eggs. This represents a slight regression, 

 approximately 1.2 percent, from the comparable output of the previ- 

 ous year. The 1938 production has, however, been exceeded only 

 twice during the period in wdiich the Federal Government has oper- 

 ated fish hatcheries. In vieAv of the effects of weather, and other fac- 

 tors beyond control, there is each year an inevitable fluctuation in 

 the output of the hatcheries. Among the factors which may be cited as 

 contributing to the reduction and output was the flooding of the Louis- 

 ville, Ky., hatchery during the spring of 1937, thereby affecting the 

 1938 production. In the Madison River, Mont, a large supply of trout 

 eggs was virtually eliminated because of drainage of a hydroelectric 

 reservoir. The cyclical nature of the runs of Pacific salmon also con- 

 tributed to a reduced egg take for those species. Altogether some 45 

 different species of fish were handled at the Bureau's hatcheries. The 

 canalization of the upper Mississippi River has curtailed the rescue 



