INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS OF FISHERIES ON THE HIGH SEAS. 125 
organized under the laws of California, the take being fixed at 100,000 young 
males annually, under the system of management developed by the Russian 
Government. 
From time immemorial the Indians of the northwest coast had been accus- 
tomed to capture the fur seals in the open sea, as these animals passed along the 
coast en route to and from the breeding grounds, spearing males and females 
indiscriminately as they were found sleeping at the surface of the water. The 
extent of this slaughter was small, probably never exceeding 6,000 or 7,000 in 
any one year previous to 1879, and it is generally agreed that it had no serious 
effect in diminishing the herd. 
But the high value of fur-seal pelts about thirty years ago induced persons 
to fit out vessels for conveying a number of Indians and their canoes to the 
main path of the migrating animals and there follow them day after day, so as 
to prosecute their capture with greater effect. About 1881 this pelagic fleet 
extended its operations to Bering Sea, where it met with so much success that 
the number of vessels quickly increased to 34 in 1886, to 68 in 1889, and to 
115 in 1891, each with from 5 to 20 canoes. The number of fur seals taken 
by these vessels reached the total of 59,568 in 1891, valued at about $938,196, 
all of which were taken by Canadian fishermen, as the law of 1868 was enforced 
against American subjects. In the meantime the American lessees on the 
Pribilof Islands were obliged by reason of the decreased size of the herd to reduce 
their take from an annual average of 100,000 pelts previous to 1886 to 12,040 
in 1891, valued at about $360,000. There was a large preponderance of females 
among the animals taken in the pelagic fishery, owing to the slaughter of sur- 
plus males on land, the proportion being about 4 females to 1 male. The 
capture of a female in the spring migration to the rookeries involved the death of 
‘her unborn offspring, and the killing of the mother in August or September 
resulted in the death of her dependent young on the islands. 
Rather than witness the destruction of this valuable resource, the American 
authorities in 1886 construed the aforementioned acts of 1868 and 1870 as 
applicable to the entire water area within the limits of territory ceded by Russia 
in 1867—in other words that Bering Sea was mare clausum; and notice was 
given of this construction, with a view to preventing the pelagic fishery in those 
waters. 
In August, 1886, an American revenue cutter seized 3 Canadian sealing 
vessels in Bering Sea about 60 miles from the nearest land. On October 4, 
these vessels were condemned for having been ‘‘found engaged in killing fur 
seal within the limits of Alaska Territory and in the waters thereof in violation 
of section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.” After repeated 
protests on the part of the British Government, the President on January 26, 
1887, without conclusion of any questions which might be found to be involved, 
directed ‘‘the discontinuance of all pending proceedings, the discharge of the 
