132 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
slaughtered every fur seal on the Pribilof Islands, without provision for the 
preservation of the species. 
It is generally agreed that the preservation of the fur seals involves the 
complete elimination of the pelagic fishery. At present this is prosecuted only 
by vessels from Canada and Japan, the fleet of the latter having increased rap- 
idly since 1893. The 15 vessels composing the Canadian fleet in 1907 secured 
2,858 skins from Bering Sea, 448 from the vicinity of Copper Islands, and 1,934 
from the British Columbia-Alaska coast, a total of 5,240 skins. In accordance 
with the provisions of the Paris award, these vessels are prohibited from killing 
seals in Bering Sea at any time with firearms or in any manner within a distance 
of 60 miles about the Pribilof Islands, and must observe a closed season between 
May 1 and July 31 of each year. The 36 vessels in the Japanese pelagic sealing 
fleet in 1907 secured about 9,000 skins in Bering Sea and the North Pacific 
Ocean, hunting in any manner and anywhere outside the marine league, as these 
vessels are not bound by the regulations of the Paris tribunal. During the 
greater part of the summer the Japanese vessels hovered about the Pribilof 
Islands, killing seals just outside the 3-mile territorial limit. 
For years an effort has been made to induce the Canadian government to 
_ prohibit her fishermen from engaging in the pelagic fishery. - But since this is a 
vested interest in which the right of her citizens was established by the decision 
of the Paris tribunal, and since such an interdiction would be almost exclusively 
for the financial advantage of America and Russia, the Canadian government 
has not seen fit to follow such a course. It has been suggested that for a definite 
sum of money the right of the Canadians to take seals on the high seas be sold 
to the American Government; but many practical and legal difficulties attach 
to this course, aside from any question as to whether it would meet with the 
approval of the nations interested. Since a termination of the pelagic fishery 
would promote the prosperity of the sealing on the rookeries, a more equitable 
plan would seem to be an exchange with the Canadian government of a share 
in the revenue from the rookeries for a prohibition of the pelagic fishery. 
Some years ago the Japanese Government professed a willingness to concur 
in any agreement made between Great Britain and the United States for pre- 
serving the fur seals. However, that was before so many Japanese vessels 
were employed in the pelagic fishery, and possibly that Government might 
not now be so willing to abandon this vested interest without some equivalent. 
Any arrangement made with the Canadian government which is not concurred 
in by the Japanese Government would be wholly valueless, for experience of 
the last few years has shown how easy it is for a Canadian sealer to place his 
boats under the Japanese flag. Indeed, even should arrangements be made 
with both Canada and Japan, there would be no assurance that vessels of other 
nationalities might not engage in the pelagic fishery. 
