234 



FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA, 



Lembkey swoars tliat ho saved 

 the 3-year-olds from kiUing as 

 food seals by a 6i-])ound maxi- 

 mum skill weight limit, but — 



Mr. Lembkey. Notwithstanding re- 

 peated allegations to the contrary, the 

 regulations of the department fully pro- 

 tect the breeding herd, and these regula- 

 tions are carefully and thoroughly ob- 

 served. They require tliat no female or 

 marked male should be killed, and no 

 male seal having a pelt weighing less than 

 5 or more than Sh pounds. During the 

 food killing season of the fall and spring 

 seals having skins weighing OA-ei 6| 

 pounds or under 5 pounds may not be 

 taken, this extra limitation being enforced 

 to prevent the killing of those males 

 marked for breeding purposes after the 

 new hair has grown in and obliterated the 

 mark which is placed upon their hiaes at 

 the beginning of the season. 



Mr. Madden. Right there, let me ask a 

 question. 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes, sir. 



Mr. Madden. I do not think it will in- 

 terfere. You said that seals 2 or 3 years 

 of age were killed? 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes. sir. 



Mr. Madden. And that no skin weighed 

 less than 5 or more than 8 pounds? 



Mr. Lembkey. More than 84 pounds. 



Mr. Madden. Except during a certain 

 period of the season when the liigher 

 weight was reduced to CA pounds? 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes, sir. 



]\Ir. Madden. What becomes of . the 

 seals more than 3 years of age? 



Mr. Lembkey. They aie allowed to ma- 

 ture as breeders. (Hearing No. 9, p. 363; 

 Feb. 29, 1912.) 



But, it seems that that 6^- 

 pound maxmium was actually in- 

 creased to 8^ pounds. So these 

 "saved" 3-year-olds in June and 

 July were all killed in the October- 

 November following as "food 

 seals." 



Mr. Lembkey. Let me interrupt you a 

 moment. The instructions for 1904, 

 known as the Hitchcock rules, used this 

 language: "No seal shall be taken that is 

 over 4 years of age." That, of course, 

 was intended to mean that no 4-year-o]d8 

 were to be killed, but the company took it 

 to mean that a seal was not over 4 years 

 until it was at least 5 years of age, and 

 that they could at least kill 4-year-olds. 

 That was the controversy. 



Mr. McGuire. Ri^ht there, Mr. Lemb- 

 key, did you prohibit their killing them? 



Mr. Lembkey. I did. 



Mr. McGuire. Over 4 years of age? 



Mr. Lembkey. I did. 



Mr. Elliott. In 1904? 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes. 



Mr. Elliott. Did you do it in 1905? 



Mr. Lembkey. Yes. 



Mr. Elliott. How did you do it? You 

 had no brand on them. 



Mr. Lembkey. By fixing a limit of 

 8J pounds on the skins to be taken. 

 (Hearing No. 9, p. 458; Apr. 13, 1912.) 



Dr. Evermann. I wish to call particu- 

 lar attention to these paragraphs of the in- 

 structions regarding reservations to be 

 made: 



[Instruction issued Mar. 9, 1906.] 



Sec. 8. Si:e^ of Idllable seals. — No seals 

 shall be killed having skins weighing less 

 than 5 pounds nor more than Sh pounds. 

 Skins weighing more than Sh pounds shall 

 not be shipped from the islands, but shall 

 be held there subject to such instructions 

 as may be furnished you hereafter by the 

 department. Skins weighing less than 5 

 pounds shall not be sliipped from the 

 islands unless, in your judgment, the 

 number thereof is so small as to justify the 

 belief that they have been taken only 

 through unavoidable accident, mistake, 

 or error in judgment. 



Sec. 10. Seals for food. — The number of 

 seals to be killed by the natives for food 

 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1906, 

 shall not exceed 1,700 on the island of St. 

 Paul and 500 on the island of St. George, 

 subject to the same Umitations and re- 

 strictions as apply to the killing of seals 

 by the company for the quota. Care 

 should be taken that no branded seals be 

 killed in the drives for food. (Hearing 

 No. 10, pp. 483, 484; Apr. 19, 1912.) 



