322 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
have been prohibited from engaging in the pursuit of seals at sea, and Congress 
has passed laws prohibiting the importation of skins taken by pelagic sealing 
into the United States. 
The seals taken at sea are shot or speared, and the skins, thus injured, are 
consequently less valuable than the land catch. ‘The class of skins obtained 
under government direction on the Pribilof-and Commander islands is of the 
highest quality, the animals selected being 3-year-old males of nearly uniform 
size, killed when the fur is in best condition. This catch in 1908 amounted to 
14,964 skins, which sold at an average of $30 per skin. 
