40 REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 



tliO])ur])()S('. ofiiidnciiif^ equivalent concessions on the otliei" 

 side in the common interest. 

 Thp ruling 12C}. FoY iniicticiil ])nri)oses, the main consideration is 

 tection. " " *"'* that any sclieme ot'nieasnrcs ot'i)i'otection shall absolutely 

 control, so far as may be necessary, any aiul every method 

 of taking sealsj and from industrial considerations, and in 

 order i)roperly to determine on reciprocal concessions, it is 

 necessary to assume some ruliui;" principle in accordance 

 wirh Avhich these shall be governed, and such may be found, 

 in a rou,i>h Avay, in ])ostuliiting a ]>arity of interests as be- 

 tween i)e]agic sealing' and sealing" on the breeding islands. 

 This would inv()lve the idea that any regulation of the 

 fishery, as a whole, should be so framed as to afford as 

 nearly as possible an equal share in benefit or proceeds to 

 these two interests. 

 Ji\ghu iit sea 127. Inasmuch as the United States and Russia, -with in 

 isni'iuuToI'ii" 51" '''"''^i' degree .lai)an, alone have direct interests in the 

 VM-vd. breeding islands, while all other nations share with them 



the undoubted riglit of sealing on the high seas, it may at 

 iirst sight appear ine(iuitablethat any basis of arrangement 

 giving so large a share to the possessors of the breeding 

 islands and involving so general a curtailment of common 

 rights should be contemplated. 



IL'S. The except ionally favourable position which 

 21 the United States and Kussia Avould hold under such 

 a basis of arrangement is, however, to some extent 

 justified by the fact, that ii])on these Governments would 

 devolve the exj)ense and responsibility of efficiently con- 

 trolling and gnarding the breeding islands of the seals. It 

 may be noted tliat the ])reseiit time is one specially favour- 

 able to S(uno such arrangement, because (ireat I'>ritainand 

 the United States alone i)ossess considerable sealing tleets, 

 and it is probable that any regulations agreed upon by 

 these two (lovernments (especially if also approved by 

 Russia) would meet with the ready concurrence of other 

 Powers at present but slightly interested, or with merely a 

 potential concern in the matter. 

 ado'iVtiui" ^rstv 1^'^' 1" dealing Avith specific measures of preservation, it 

 wiitro. may be well to bear in mind tluit nu)re or less eflective steps 



have already been taken for this ])ni)Ose in other ])arts of 

 the world besides the Pribylotf and Commander Islands. 

 It is wholly ill accordance with long exjierience in game 

 protection in the United Kingdom that the tendency has 

 arisen in various parts of the IJritish hhnpireto ])rotect the 

 fur-seal. In Australasia, in South Africa, and in the Falk- 

 land Islands, regulations have been adopted from time to 

 time with this object. Further precedents of a specially 

 api)ro])riate character are found in the regulations of the 

 Newfoundland (iovernment for the control of the great hair- 

 seal fishery, and in the Jan-IMayen International Agree- 

 ment, whereby a certain area of the North Atlantic, defined 

 by lines of latitude and longitude, has been subjected to 

 specific rules as to sealing since 1875, these rules affecting 

 the control of vessels, their captains, and crews. 



