202 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



$15 to $20 a moiitli. The seamen, if ou a lay, are eutitled to one- 

 hundredth of the stock, but most of them receive 50 cents for each seal 

 taken by the boat in which they are. Hunters, so known, are the men 

 who shoot the seals; they usually receive $2 for each seal and $G to $7 

 for each otter that they may kill and secure. The owners of the vessels 

 furnish all food, guns, ammunition, and other needed supplies, and in 

 case seals are not found they are the ones to suffer the loss, the crew 

 being out their time only. 



The extent of this fishery from 1889 to 1892, inclusive, is shown iu 

 condensed form in the following table: 



The pelay'w fur-seal and sea-otter fleet of San Francisco. 



The average number of seals and sea otters taken by each vessel 

 varied greatly during the four years named, and shows the ancertaiuty 

 attending the prosecution of this fishery. Some vessels returned home 

 without having taken a single pelt, while others obtained as many as 

 2,600 skins. The following brief statement of averages, based on the 

 foregoing table, shows some interesting points: 



Tears. 



1889 

 1890 

 1891 

 1892 



Seal skins. 



number to 

 a vessel. 



282 

 646 

 559 

 817 



Average 



stock to a 



vessel. 



$2, 536 

 7,757 

 8,389 



10, 470 



Sea-otter skins. 



Average 



number to 



a vessel. 



Average 



.stock to a 



vessel. 



$4, 617 

 3,033 

 1,887 

 1,942 



THE WIIALK FISUERY. 



Probably no other business on the Pacific Coast with anything like 

 the capital invested is followed with the uncertainty of the Arctic whale 

 fishery. One year may witness a remunerative fishery, to be followed 

 the next season Avith heavy loss of life, money, and i)roperty. The 

 fishery continues to center at San Francisco, which, iu addition to 

 having a large local fleet, is the permanent headquarters of numbers 

 of vessels belonging iu New Bedford, Mass. 



With the low prices received for oil, the whale fishery would soon 

 come to an end were it not for the more valuable whalebone. Often 

 during recent years only tlie bone has been saved if other whales are 

 in sight, the remainder of the carcass being cast adrift. The market 

 price of whalebone has ruled high, with wide fluctuations from time to 



