ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION OF PELAGIC SEALING. 513 



And that the prohibition of such poaching is necessary to the pres- 

 ervation of the herds, and that from what he has 

 himself seen he thinks, if such poaching be not t. f. Morgan, p. 65. 

 prohibited the herds will be practically exter- 

 minated within five years. 



I think all the schooners ought to be stopped 

 catching seal, so the Indians could catch them Matthew Morris, p. 286. 

 again. 



I believe, to avoid certain extermination of the Pribilof seal herd in 

 the near future, that they must be protected in 

 Bering Sea and in the North Pacific Ocean. Pel- j. r. Moulton, p. 32. 

 agic sealing must be absolutely prohibited, be- 

 cause the majority of seals killed in this way are pregnant or milking 

 females, and this is certain to cause extinction of the species very soon, 

 if continued. If pelagic sealing is stopped, and the present regula- 

 tions enforced on the islands, the seal herd wiH slowly but surely 

 increase again, as they did before pelagic sealing had grown to such 

 proportions as to affect seal life. 



If this pursuit were stopped altogether, I think 

 the fur seal species would increase again, al- Arthur Newman, p. 271. 

 though very slowly. 



Unless the pelagic hunter is prevented from taking seals in Bering 

 Sea and in the North Pacific, the Alaskan fur- 

 seal will soon cease to be of commercial value. L ~ A ' No, J e8 > P- 84 - 



If the schooners were stopped hunting seal, they would become plenty 

 once more, and my people would get plenty once 

 more, and they need them very much. Peter olson > P- 289 - 



In regard to the broad question of the protection of the seal life at 

 our possessions in the Bering Sea, I have clear 

 and decided views. I think there has been a crim- 3. G. Otis, p. 88. 

 inal waste of this most precious animal life, and 

 that the whole recent era of destruction should have been averted by 

 the prompt and forcible interference of the Government. It is a great 

 industry, that deserves the fullest protection, whether the Government 

 and people of the United States, or those of Great Britain, or Canada, 

 or Russia, are concerned. All have interests more or less in common 

 in the perpetuation of the seal life and the preservation of this industry. 

 The destruction of the seals results only in loss to all. When they are 

 goue, there are no longer any seals to quarrel over and no need of the 

 modus vivendi. I believe that our Government should have sought the 

 cooperation of that of Russia, and that they should jointly have thrown 

 a powerful fleet into those waters and protected the common interest. 

 There is no question in my mind but that a vast deal of the destruction 

 which lias been going on in recent years is directly due to the lawless 

 killing in the open sea on the annual migrations of the female seals 

 northward to the seal islands for the purpose of bearing their young, 

 and later, on their voyages from the rookeries to the adjacent fishing 

 banks in search of food. You can no more preserve the seal life at 

 these islands with these destructive methods in vogue than you could 

 preserve a band of sheej) or any race of domestic animals by turning 

 33 b s 



