FUK-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 



227 



Lembkey swears that he does 

 not kill yearling- seals. 



Committee on Expenditures 

 IN the Department of 



Commerce and Labor, 

 House of Representatives, 

 Washington, Thursday, February g9, 1912. 



The committee met at 11 o'clock a. m., 

 Hon. John H. Rothermel (chairman) pre- 

 siding. 



testimony of WALTER I. LEMBKEY, AGENT 

 ALASKA SEAL FISHERIES, BUREAU OF 

 FISHERIES, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

 AND LABOR. 



Mr. Lembkey. Our killing is confined 

 to 2 and 3 year old males exclusively. 

 The seals which they desire to kill are dis- 

 patched at once by means of a blow on the 

 top of the head with a heavy club, and the 

 seal struck is rendered unconscious im- 

 mediately, if not killed outright. (Hear- 

 ing No. 9, p. 360, Feb. 29, 1912.) 



animals were released . Most of these are 

 probably included in the killing to-day. 

 Gorbatch is driven a second time to-day 

 and 62 skins taken. 



This is certainly whirlwind sealing and 

 an effective clean-up of the hauling 

 grounds. If the Alaska Commercial Co. 

 cleaned up the hauling grounds without 

 reference to the new lessees in the season 

 of 1889, the North American Commercial 

 Co. has in like manner cleaned up the 

 hauling grounds without reference to the 

 lessees of next year. 



The total of to-day's killing on St. Paul 

 is 1,222 skins. (Report G. A. Clark to 

 Secretarv Nagel, Sept. 30, 1909, pp. 887, 

 888, 892," 893 f Appendix A, June 24, 1911. 

 H. Com. Exp. Dept. Com. and Labor.) 



But Special Agent Clark reports 

 that Lembkey has killed and kills 

 yearling seals. 



The yearlings of both sexes for the sea- 

 son must numjser about 12,000 each. 



This question of the proportion of the 

 sexes surviving to killable and breeding 

 age is a fundamertd one. It could be 

 settled in a very few seasons by such regu- 

 lation of killing for the quota as would 

 limit it to animals of 3 years of age and 

 over, leaving the 2-year-olds untouched. 

 The quota would then fall where it be- 

 longs, on the 3-year-olds, and give a close 

 approximation of the survivals among the 

 young males, which in turn could be ap- 

 plied to the young females. This was the 

 method used in 1896-97, when a mini- 

 mum of 6 pounds in weight of skins pre- 

 vailed. During the present season and 

 for some seasons past a minimum of 5 

 pounds has been in force, the skins taken 

 ranging in weight all the way from 4 to 14^ 

 pounds, bringing all classes of animals 

 from yearlings to 4-year-olds into the 

 quota. 



The result of this manner of killing is 

 that we have no clear idea from the quota 

 of the number of younger animals belong- 

 ing to the herd. From the irregularity of 

 the movements of the yearlings of both 

 sexes and the 2-year-old cows, they can 

 not be counted or otherwise accurately 

 estimated on the rookeries. 



George Archibald Clark, 

 Assistant in Charge of 

 Fur-Seal Investigation. 



Stanford University, 



September 30, 1909. 



(Appendix A, pp. 850, 851, June 24, 

 1911.) 



