ALASKA FUR-SEAL ROOKERIES, 1910. 15 



schooner. If the price per skin were only $15 ($30 was the price 

 they received last year) $4,800 would certainly be a paying invest- 

 ment. 



On the other hand there is another factor making toward the 

 reduction of the sealing fleet which, together with the partial destruc- 

 tion of the skins through branding, may possibly put the pelagic 

 sealer out of business or, more probably, so limit the number of 

 vessels that an equilibrium of the seal herd may become a fixed 

 feature. This element is competition. With 25 schooners in the 

 sea, rivalry must this year have been very keen, and with a diminish- 

 ing herd some competitors must sooner or later leave the field. Any 

 depreciation in the value of skins must hasten the desirable result, 

 provided — and here an unknown factor enters — that the price of 

 skins does not advance. But with the decline of the number of 

 skins it is probable that prices will advance, and it appears very 

 questionable whether branding and competition will drive away all 

 of the pelagic fleet for many years to come. It may, however, make 

 it possible for the herd to remain practically stationary until some 

 form of treaty insures more perfect conservation. 



The branding process may be made to include the male pups, but 

 as the pelagic sealer secures but few bachelors this would greatly 

 destroy the value of the land catch without giving adequate returns. 

 It is possible that the males dismissed from the drives might be 

 penned up for a month or so, but unfortunately I can not speak with 

 authority regarding this plan, that was once put into execution several 

 years ago. Some advocates claim that it is entirely possible; that 

 after a few days the captives show no signs of restlessness in their 

 unnatural surroundings. Others are equally certain that the experi- 

 ment was not a success, as several of the larger animals broke through 

 the barriers and some less fortunate became restless in the extreme 

 and finally died of exhaustion. Furthermore, it is reported the 

 bachelors ordinarily put to sea from time to time in search of food, 

 and it is difficult to. see how food would be forthcoming even if they 

 desisted from their attempts to escape. The fact that placing animals 

 in captivity would prevent redriving does not appear in itself to be 

 sufficient reason for carrying out the plan. If by these schemes we 

 hope to drive the pelagic sealer from his elected calling then it 

 seems to me they will not succeed, but that they may increase the 

 value of the land catch is possible. 



THE QUESTION OF AN EQUILIBRIUM OF THE HERD. 



The question of an equilibrium of the herd is one of very high im- 

 portance. In 1897 the Fur Seal Commission agreed that such a 

 state of affairs would ultimately occur, and in 1909 Mr. G. A. Clark 

 argues in favor of the possibility that there is now an equilibrium. 



