8 GEORGE V SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a A. 1918 



I 



Part I. X^ « jj^ls'^ 



PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE SEA-LION 



QUESTION, 1915. 



Dr. Charles F. Newcombe, Victoria, B.C., Cliairman ; 



Wm. Hamar Greenwood^ Vancouver, B.C., Secretary ; and 



Dr. C. McLean Fraser, Curator of the Government Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. 



IXTR0DUCTI02s". 



lu May, 1915, the Biological Board of Canada appointed an honorary com- 

 mission to make an inquiry as to the effect of the bounty of two dollars per head 

 which had been offered by the Dominion Government to aid in the reduction of the 

 number of sea-lions in the province of British Columbia, and which applied during 

 the year 1915 only. 



The commission, after some changes, finally consisted of Dr. C. F. Newcombe, 

 of Victoria, chairman; W. Hamar Greenwood, B.A., of Vancouver, secretary; and 

 Dr. C. McLean Fraser, of the Biological Station, Nanaimo. 



Early in August, Prof. A. B. Macallum, of the University of Toronto, Secretary 

 of the Biological Board of Canada, visited the west coast and met two of the com- 

 missioners at Vancouver. Authority was then given for an early commencement of 

 the investigation, but it was left to the commissioners themselves to draw up a plan 

 of operation which would best fulfil the purposes of the proposed inquiry. The com- 

 missioners at once decided that there should be a division of the work of the com- 

 mission, Mr. Greenwood undertaking to collect all information possible by corre- 

 spondence and personal interviews, the other two members more especially devoting 

 their time to field and laboratory work, with the view of gaining more knowledge as 

 to the life-history of the sea-lion. 



In order to facilitate the statistical section, a schedule of questions was drawn 

 up and forwarded to officials of all the fishing plants of the province, and, for the 

 field party, application was made through the Biological Board for the use of one of 

 the vessels belonging to the Department of Naval Service. These matters are 

 referred to later in the report. 



2, ACTION ELSEWHERE ON THE SEA-LION QUESTION. 



The sea-lion question is by no means a new one. As long ago as 1898 it was 

 very much to the fore in California. In 1899 the State Commission authorized the 

 killing of numbers of the animals, giving the reason for so doing in the sixteentn 

 biennial report of the State Board of Fish Commissioners of the state of California 

 for the years 1899-1900, pp. 26-40. In this report is included, as well, much corre- 

 spondence on the subject. 



At the outset, in April, 1899, the commissioners called a meeting of all persons 

 interested to consider the evidence that might be offered regarding the damage done 

 by sea-lions. The reason given in the report for calling this meeting is as follows: 

 " For many years the fishery interests have strenuously complained of the damage 

 done by sea-lions in the bays and rivers of the state. This commission has had the 

 subject under consideration for many years. During the fall of 1898 and the spring 

 of 1899 the salmon fishermen made repeated calls upon us for relief in this behalf, 

 claiming that the sea-lions were appearing in the bays and lower rivers in increasing 

 numbers, and that they follow the salmon from the ocean for more than 100 miles 



38a— 2 5 



