126 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Sealing and foxing activities were performed, as usual, by Pribilof 

 natives under the direction of the Bureau's staff. Approximately 80 

 additional laborers from the Aleutian Islands were employed to assist 

 with sealing operations during the summer. 



No important construction program was undertaken at the Pribilof 

 Islands during the year, but work on the extension of roads was con- 

 tinued on both islands and some improvements were made in buildings 

 and equipment. A substation on one of the western Aleutian Islands 

 was established for the expansion of sea-otter investigations and 

 patrol. 



The operation of the radio station on St. Paul Island, previously 

 maintained by the Navy Department, was taken over by the Bureau 

 on August 10. 



A patrol for the protection of the fur-seal herd during its northward 

 migration and while it remained in Bering Sea waters was maintained 

 by Coast Guard cutters, which also rendered other assistance in the 

 Bureau's work. The Navy Department detailed the U. S. S. Sirius 

 to carry the annual shipment of supplies from Seattle to the Pribilof 

 Islands and to bring out the season's take of sealsldns. 



TRANSPORTATION OF SUPPLIES 



The U. S. S. Sirius, supply vessel of the Navy, sailed from Seattle on 

 July 28 with the annual shipment of supplies for the Pribilof Islands, 

 which aggregated 888 tons of general freight and 100,901 board feet 

 of lumber for St. Paul Island and 605 tons of freight and 27,546 board 

 feet of lumber for St. George Island, a total of 1,493 tons and 128,447 

 board feet of lumber. Supplies were carried also for the Navy Depart- 

 ment, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Bureau of Indian 

 Affairs at Dutch Harbor. The vessel arrived at the Pribilof Islands 

 on August 6. 



On the return trip to Seattle, wliich covered the period from August 

 14 to August 27, the vessel brought out 54,679 sealsldns, approxi- 

 mately 162 tons of seal meal, and miscellaneous freight. Certain 

 equipment and supplies of the Navy Department that were not trans- 

 ferred to the Bureau when it took over custody of the naval radio 

 station on St. Paul Island were transported to Dutch Harbor by the 

 Sirius en route south. 



Additional supplies for the Pribilof Islands were shipped during 

 the year on the Penguin. 



POWER VESSEL "pENGUIN" 



Five round trips between Seattle and the Pribilof Islands were 

 made by the Penguin in 1937, carrying passengers and supplies. In 

 addition, the vessel performed interisland service and made trips to 

 Indian settlements along the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian 

 Islands to transport native laborers hired for fur-seal work at the 

 Pribilofs during the summer. Two trips were made to the western 

 Aleutians — one in July and one in September — in connection with the 

 sea-otter patrol. 



A full cargo of freight, chiefly perishable foodstuffs, was carried on 

 each trip from Seattle, and outgoing shipments from the islands 

 included the 1936-37 take of foxskins, transported to Seattle in March, 



