132 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Referring- to the use iu this paper of the terms "sealing belt," and 

 certain "quadrants" of the same, I quote bere an extract from a letter 

 addressed by me to the Commissioner, under date of August 27, 1894, 

 which will explain the subject: 



From a careful examinatiou of the ground jiassed over by the Albatross during 

 this summer'a work in Bering Sea, in connection with the reports thus far obtained 

 from sealers boarded and the locality in which seals have been taken in the sealing 

 belt surrounding tlio prohibited zone, it appears that the sealing-grouiid for this 

 year has been confined to the western, southern, and southeastern portions of the 

 belt circumscribing the prohibited zone, and which is defined by two radii from St. 

 Paul Island: one N. 51° W. tiue, the other S. 81^ E., covering an arc of 210°. The 

 soiitheastern and southern belts average 50 miles in width. The western belt varies 

 from 50 to 75 miles, owing to the nature of the plateau in this locality as outlined 

 by tlie 100-fathom curve. It is to be observed that a strong northerly set occurs in 

 this locality which is not materially afl'ected by northerly winds, but more properly 

 by the topographical features of the bed of this portion of Bering Sea, connecting 

 with the Aleutian chain of islands to the southward, which undoubtedly control 

 the surface, subsurface, and warmer currents of the Japan stream passing into the 

 sea. There is a possibility that this could bring with it certain pelagic species 

 which would be sustained at or near the surface by the warmer subsurface currents 

 rising as they approach the plateau, thereby making tins a favorite feeding ground, 

 for in this locality some of the largest catches have already occurred, reaching as 

 high as 250 per diem per sealer. 



Tlie area of the western belt is 10,938 square miles. On the northwestern plateau 

 of this belt 2,536 square miles are inside of the 100-fathom curve, in which its north- 

 eastern border commences in 65 fathoms; it then slopes gradually to the 100-fathom 

 curve. The remaining portion of this belt, 8,402 square miles (77 per cent of the 

 western belt), occupies the slope of the southwestern face of this plateau, varying 

 in depth from the 100-fathom curve to 1,800 fathoms at its western limit. 



The area of the southern belt is 6,700 square miles. Its eastern border commences 

 at the 100-fathom curve on the southeastern plateau and slopes gradually to 1,700 

 fathoms at its western border connecting with the western belt. 



The area of the southeastern belt is 4,950 square miles. Its northeastern border 

 commences in 54 fathoms ; it then slopes gradually to the 100-fathom curve, connect- 

 ing with the southern belt. 



Sqii.'ire miles. 



Total area of sealing belt 22, 588 



Area of sealing belt on plateau 7, 486 



Sixty-seven per cent of the sealing belt is therefore in deep water, outside of the 

 100-fathom curve. 



We remained in Dutch Harbor, undergoing minor repairs and taking 

 coal, until the morning of September 4, when we went to sea under 

 orders from the commander in chief. Off the entrance to Unalaska Bay 

 we fell in with and spoke the British schooner Kilmeny, of Victoria, 

 with GOO seal skins, and the American schooner Beeahl-s, of Port 

 Townsend, with 850 skins. They were both bound for Unalaska for 

 water and ])ro visions, and expected to leave the sea between the lOtli 

 and 15th of September. The same afternoon, off Aknn Island, we 

 boarded the American schooner Jane Grey^ of San Francisco, with 138 

 seal skins. She had entered the sea from the Japan coast by May of 

 Attn and was now bound home. The 5th and Otli were occupied in 

 cruising to the southward of the GO-mile zone, and at noon of the latter 

 date we fell in with and boarded the British schooner Walter L. Rich, 

 of Victoria, with a catch iu Bering Sea of 1,738 seals. This vessel was 



