REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 27 



signed to Messrs. C. M. Lampson & Co., London, who received them 

 early in October. On December 16, 1910, they were placed on sale at 

 the auction rooms of the firm and brought the gross sum of £89,624 

 16s., less discount (2^ per cent) for cash, or £87,384:. 3s. 7d. The 

 United States being credited with the casks (228 in number) to the 

 value of £35 3s., and with salt shaken from the skins to the value of 

 £2 19s. 3d., the total receipts were £87,422 5s. lOd., or about $424,000. 

 Deducting from this sum the freight, insurance, and brokerage 

 charges, the net proceeds of the sale were $403,946.94, checks in which 

 amount were duly received. 



MINOR FUR-BEARING ANIMALS OF ALASKA. 



The act approved April 21, 1910, gave the Department of Com- 

 merce and Labor jurisdiction over the minor fur-bearing animals of 

 Alaska which, up to that time, had been under the Treasury De- 

 partment. 



Immediately upon the passage of this law the Bureau began con- 

 sideration of the various questions which should receive attention in 

 the development of a rational policy for handling this important 

 matter. A careful study was made of the laws and regulations in 

 the Canadian Provinces and in the various States intended for the 

 protection of fur-bearing animals, and a series of regulations (De- 

 partment Circular No. 206) was issued June 2, 1910, in which open 

 seasons were provided for land otter, mink, muskrat, marten, fisher, 

 ermine, black bear, fox, wildcat, and lynx. This circular was reis- 

 sued March 8, 1911 (as Alaska Fisheries Service Circular No. 1), 

 with certain modifications. 



The sundry civil bill making appropriations for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1912, provided for the appointment of one warden 

 and four deputy wardens whose duties are to see that the law and the 

 regulations are observed and to make such study of the habits, abun- 

 dance, and distribution of the various species of fur-bearing animals 

 as will be helpful in forming regulations which will permit the 

 largest annual take of pelts consistent with adequate protection and 

 conservation of the species. 



Until now there has been no way by which complete statistics of 

 the annual shipment of furs from Alaska could be obtained. Accu- 

 rate records are kept, of course, of the number and value of the fur- 

 seal skins, also of all other furs shipped out of Alaska by freight or 

 express and passing through the customhouses, but records of ship- 

 ments by mail have been lacking. Through the courtesy of the Post 

 Office Department an arrangement has been made whereby this 

 deficiency will now be remedied. Blank forms (Alaska Fisheries 

 Service Form No. 1) are supplied to the various postmasters and 



