]4 ALASKA FUR-SEAL ROOKERIES, 1910. 



maximum value may be taken, but if the females are protected and 

 the male reserve be adequate other questions sink into a position of 

 relative unimportance as the seal problem now presents itself. 



The foregoing paragraph is written from a purely biological stand- 

 point, having in mind only the conservation of the herd, but there- 

 are other questions of a more practical bearing that should be settled 

 before the sealing business can be conducted on the most economical 

 basis. In the first place it is highly desirable that the number of 

 pups born annually be more accurately determined, reducing the 

 possible error below 10,000, where it stands at present. In 1896 the 

 error was estimated to be about 6 per cent, but last year and this it 

 is probably twice as great. With the herd approaching the vanishing 

 point accuracy is more than ever a desideratum and should be had 

 even at the cost of an unusual amount of labor. 



Again, we have no information, within narrow limits, of the number 

 of males or females returning at the close of the first year, or if this 

 be beyond computation, then of the number returning the second or 

 even the third year. This, as the sexes are of approximately equal 

 numbers, will give more nearly than any other practicable method 

 the number of females taking their places on the rookeries. Beyond 

 this time observations should be made to determine the number of 

 reserved 3-year-olds that appear the next year, and finally the 

 percentage that ultimately becomes active on the rookeries. From 

 such observations the reserve of males may ultimately be made with 

 an accurate knowledge of facts, and not with such hazj^ ideas as we 

 have at present. 



It is highly desirable that the quota be taken from the males in 

 prime condition, and I heartily agree with Mr. Lembkey and Mr. G. A. 

 Clark, who argue in their reports of 1909 for the killing of 3-year-olds. 

 I am by no means convinced that even by the branding of every 

 pup, and so destroying the fur to some extent, we can, by this means 

 ajone, reduce the value of the skin to such a degree that the pelagic 

 sealer will be forced out of business. It may indeed be a fact, but 

 the brands made in the past were in some cases fatal and are sup- 

 posedly about all that the young seal is able to survive, and yet not 

 over one-tenth or at most one-eighth of the fur is destroyed. The 

 resulting depreciation of value will probably not amount to more 

 than $10, and two San Francisco furriers place it as low as $5. The 

 price of skins is gradually advancing and on the other hand we do 

 not know what returns will pay the schooner owners to keep a ship in 

 the sea. The crew, averaging 35, receives $5 per man each month 

 (Captain Quinan of the revenue cutter Tahoma says $2.50) and 12| 

 cents goes to each man for every skin taken by his particular row- 

 boat. Let us suppose each schooner is out six months, and, judging 

 from past records, 8,000 skins, will be taken this year, or 320 per 



