90 American Fisheries Society 



be most profitable to utilize the surplus males. That is probably when 

 they are four years old, or thereabouts. 



Dr. Osburn : The killing of two year olds has been stopped en- 

 tirely, has it not? 



Dr. Smith : It is not prohibited, but there is no reason for killing 

 seals of that small size. 



President Avery : Dr. Smith suggested that Mr. Found might have 

 something to say with reference to the handling of seals at St. Louis. 

 Have you anything to offer, Mr. Found? 



Mr. W. a. Found, Ass't Deputy Minister of Fisheries, Ottawa, 

 Canada: Mr. President, the Pelagic Sealing Treaty of 1911 seems to 

 me to speak so loudly for itself that the only requisite to securing ap- 

 proval of it by the people is some degree of publicity with regard to 

 what it is and what it has accomplished. I share the hope uttered by 

 Dr. Smith that when the treaty expires in 1926 the good sense of the 

 participating countries will cause them, while possibly eliminating some 

 crudities that are in the treaty itself, to establish beyond peradventure 

 this method of conserving to the participating countries an asset that 

 was so rapidly reaching the vanishing point. 



When Dr. Smith was speaking it occurred to me, as one from the 

 north side of the line, that the impression might be given that pelagic 

 sealing was an illegal operation. While I agree with all that has been 

 said regarding undesirability of pelagic sealing, I would not want that 

 impression to prevail, because pelagic sealing was a perfectly legal 

 operation, established by the highest court of the world, that of inter- 

 national arbitration. 



The treaty provides, for instance, that Canada shall receive fifteen 

 per cent in number and in quality. One does not need to have had very 

 much experience in dealing with the matter to realize what a difficult 

 thing it would be to carry out the apportionment of fifteen per cent of 

 the quality of the seal skins. The governments, therefore, made an 

 arrangement — an eminently satisfactory one to Canada, and we have 

 every reason to feel that in its handling of the matter the United States 

 is treating us with every courtesy and consideration — by which the 

 United States are carrying the whole load of killing the seals, and con- 

 veyed the skins to the St. Louis factory, where they are processed, 

 letting us come in with a little more than taking over the money. Of 

 course, we not only may, under the treaty, but are cordially invited from 

 time to time to have representatives on the seal islands watch what is 

 going on ; but up to the moment it has not been found necessary to do 

 much in this direction. All the skins are being handled in St. Louis, 

 and you have before you an actual illustration of the work that is being 

 done. I had the pleasure during the last winter of going through the 

 plant of Funsten Brothers & Co., at St. Louis. That plant is certainly 

 a very great credit to the owners ; they have developed an article which 

 is unusually attractive and which commands a very high price. For 

 instance, if I remember correctly, $178 was the price of each of a 



