72 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
amendment of the existing laws governing fishing in that territory. 
A comprehensive revision of the laws to meet new conditions was 
considered, and a bill was drafted and tentatively agreed on. It is 
hoped that this or a similar measure may be taken up at the next 
session of Congress. a 
FUR-SEAL SERVICE. 
At the end of the last fiscal year reports of demoralization among 
Government employees and natives on the Pribilof Islands reached 
the Department, and immediately on their receipt the Deputy Com- 
missioner, who was at the time on the Pacific coast, was dispatched 
in the Albatross. Following his investigation of the reports, which 
were for the most part sustained, the agent and caretaker and the 
storekeeper on St. Paul Island were removed, a general reorganiza- 
tion of the force was effected, and the natives were placed under 
much-needed restraint, especially in the matter of making and using 
intoxicating liquors. It is a pleasure to note a decided improvement 
in the moral and physical condition of the natives. 
In March, 1915, the Department adopted regulations governing 
the delivery and use of intoxicating liquors on the seal islands, and 
embodied these regulations in a Departmental circular. 
The special investigators who were sent to the islands in the sum- 
mer of 1914 conducted their work in a very thorough manner, cov- 
ering the seal and other animal life, the affairs of the natives, and 
the relations of the Government thereto. On their return in the 
fall they began the preparation of their report, which was completed 
and submitted on January 23, 1915. On February 17 the report was 
transmitted to Congress with a request for publication, and it was 
subsequently issued as a Senate document and also as a part of the 
Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries for 1914. 
The census of the seal herd, taken by the special investigators with 
the assistance of the local Government representatives, showed the 
number of animals at the close of the breeding season to be approxi- 
mately 294,687, as follows. These figures indicate an increase of 
26,382 animals over 1913, although the number of pups born was 
only about a thousand more than in the previous year. 
Classes. Number. Classes. Number. 
Breeding COWS =. os5 aa -- 22 eee ee 935250) || Yearling) bachelors . 1.22 <.- ct. 22: s.adse- 23, 068 
Breeding DUS. =to ee sece oe case eee 1/559)|| Wearling (cows. -2--c-s02- 22. -coseceeeeeee 23, 067 
idleibullse.--eeeeeeres-see eee esate IPA gi bh os Ga Qrnacsecrasmacetaareccos aac aad 93, 250 
Young bulls (chiefly 5-year olds)......-- 1,658 ——— 
Bachelors of 2, 3, and 4 years..........-- 41,241 otal SoS sane CREE eee 294, 687 
Cows; 2iyearsiolds oo. sas. cece eee ene aeee 17,422 
On the recommendation of the special investigators on the ground, 
the number of young bachelor seals that might be killed for the uses 
of the natives during the calendar year 1914 was fixed at 4,500, sub- 
ject to increase if the circumstances demanded it. This quota, how- 
ever, was apparently not needed, and only 2,735 seals were taken 
during the year. The annual shipment of pelts from the islands was 
made in October, consisting of 2,884 sealskins, 256 blue fox skins, and 
25 white fox skins. These were taken to Seattle on the Coast Guard 
