ALASKA FISHERY AXD FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 143 



From a commercial standpoint the Pribilof seals arrived in a very 

 satisfactory manner. They were fairly well scattered throughout 

 the entire season instead of coming in very large numbers for a short 

 period only. Small drives mean less road skins, less damage in health 

 of rejected seals, and, because it is not necessary to kill so fast, better 

 prepared skins. The fact that drives held up so well to the end of 

 July indicated that there were still plenty of 3-year-olds for the breed- 

 ing reserve. 



The number of bulls and other large males, 4 years old and older, in 

 drives during the first part of the season, and to a lesser extent through- 

 out the entire season, is making it increasingly hard to drive and to 

 kill. This is a condition which cannot be remedied and which will 

 become proportionately worse as the herd increases in size. How it 

 will then be possible to hold drives without the loss of a great many 

 animals is difficult to understand. The 4-year-olds are driven again 

 and again throughout the season, an exhaustive process which is 

 probably the cause of many later deaths at sea. 



During the latter part of the killing season there is always the 

 problem of cows in drives. As the herd increases, the problem will 

 become more and more acute. This condition requires even more 

 serious consideration than that of the bulls, for a cow driven in a 

 large pod of seals on a warm day soon becomes exhausted. Hereto- 

 fore there have not been many recorded deaths from this cause, 

 although at times there have been a great many cows in drives. It is 

 during the warm seasons that the most damage occurs, because the 

 harems break up early and large numbers of cows get into the drives. 

 The many cows in drives that do not die from exhaustion and are not 

 killed by mistake are the ones which deserve the most serious con- 

 sideration. There are no records to show how many of these animals 

 are driven nor how many of them later die from the effects of the 

 exhaustion which they endure at this critical period when they are 

 heavy with milk. The loss at sea from this cause must be enormous, 

 in view of the fact that it represents not only the mother and her pup 

 but also the loss of future unborn pups. It may be one of many 

 contributing causes which together have prevented expected increases 

 of killable seals. 



At present it appears that the only way to alleviate this condition is 

 to change the killable class from 3-year-olds to 4-year-olds. There 

 are various reasons why this change seems desirable from the stand- 

 point of benefiting the herd. The 4-year-olds, in general, arrive much 

 earlier than tho 3-year-olds. Sealing could be started at the usual 

 time, or possibly a little later, and might be discontinued between 

 July 15 and July 20, or at least before July 25, and still permit the 

 taking of a considerably larger proportion of 4-year-olds than is now 

 secured of the 3-year-olds. If weather conditions caused the seals 

 to arrive later than normal, the 4-year-olds would nevertheless all be 

 on hand by July 20, or at least before July 25. 



Early discontinuing of commercial killings would prevent the driv- 

 ing of great numbers of females and 2-year-olds. The driving of 

 females, particularly, should be avoided insofar as possible. As the 

 number of animals in the drives increase, proportionately more die, 

 both during the drives and later on as a result of exhaustion there- 

 from. 



The discontinuing of sealing earlier in the season normally would 

 reduce the number of stagey skins secured. 



