88 American Fisheries Society 



devices are resulting from the exigencies of the situation. Mr. Found 

 visited the plant in St. Louis last year, and may be able to say some- 

 thing about it. 



Mr. W. €. Adams, Boston, Mass.: Is this killing done by regu- 

 larly authorized agents of the Government? 



Dr. Smith ; All (the killing is done under direct Government super- 

 vision, with a Government agent present. 



Mr. Adams: It it done by one government for the benefit of all? 



Dr. Smith : All the killing is necessarily done by one government. 

 We have a force of agents and their assistants on the seal islands, and 

 we have 325 natives by whom most of the work of killing is done. These 

 natives were taken there in the old Russian days, shortly after these 

 islands were discovered. There may have been four million fur seals 

 there at that time, but there were no people ; there was no labor to 

 utilize in obtaining the skins. These people have now become the wards 

 of the Government; they have to be supported, fed, clothed, educated, 

 given medical attendance — in fact, everything a community of 350 people 

 needs has to be supplied by my Bureau. 



Mr. W. H. Rowe, West Buxton, Me.: How are the seals captured? 



Dr. Smith : The killing is done by means of clubs. The fur seal 

 has a rather thin skull and is easily rendered unconscious by a rap over 

 the head with a heavy hickory club. It is then immediately stuck and 

 bled, and the skin is removed. I do not know of any form of trapping, 

 or killing, or butchering that is more humane than this method of kill- 

 ing fur seals under Government supervision. 



Mr. Rowe: Are these seals not afraid of man? My observation of 

 the seals on the coast of Maine is that they would dive into the water 

 if anyone attempted to approach them. 



Dri. Smith: That is the hair seal, a very different creature from 

 the fur seal. During summer, fur seals haul out on land in large 

 numbers. Bodies of them can be cut off from the water and driven like 

 cattle inland for longer or shorter distances, sometimes several miles. 

 They are rounded up, selectons are made, the females and unsuitable 

 males are discarded, and the others are killed on the spot. 



President Avery: Is any use made of the carcasses? 



Dr. Smith : During the long 'time that commercial sealing was 

 carried on by Russia, and during the forty years when the seal islands 

 were leased by the United States Government to the highest bidder, no 

 use was made of the seal carcasses except for small quantities of the 

 meat eaten by the natives and fed to the blue foxes on these islands. 

 A reduction plant, however, has now been established, and although it 

 has not been operated very successfully as yet, being only in its initial 

 stages, we plan to utilize every bit of seal carcass. It makes an ex- 

 cellent fertilizer, and a splendid oil is obtained from it. I may say 

 that this oil last year brought $1.50 a gallon for the best quality. It 

 has been found to be the best oil known for automobile tops ; it gives 

 them an elasticity that no other treatment gives, so far as we know. 



