226 RErORT OF liRITi;^!! COMMISSIONERS. 



Qiierji 2. The seal fishery has been conducted by means of boats of 4 or 5 tons reg- 

 ister fitted u]) amongst the islands iu Bass .Stiaits, the crew being eqnipjied witli clubs 

 and rifles, the seals being shot upon the rocks when practicable, or followed upon 

 the shore and clubbed. Occasionally, large vessels come to Bass Straits from other 

 Colonies, but the same mode of killing is adopted. In the Macqnarie Islands the 

 same principles are adopted with larger vessels. 



Query 3. No measures were taken by the Tasmanian Government towards the pro- 

 tection of the ^seal lisheries in their territories until the early part of the present 

 year, when, at the request of the New Zealand Government, seal tishing was pro- 

 hibited on the Macqnarie Islands, and in (October of the present year the Commis- 

 sioners of Fisheries, fearing the total extinction of the seals in Tasmania, consequent 

 upon their unrestricted slaughter, submitted a Regulation (cojiy attached, marked 

 A) totally prohibiting the taking of seals in Tasmania and its dependencies for a 

 period of three years. 



Query 4. I inclose a newspaj)er copy (marked B) of a paper prepared and read by 

 Mr. Alexander Morton, F. L. S., one of the Tasmanian Commissioners of Fisheries, at 

 a late meeting of the Commission, which will, I think, fully answer the ((uery, as 

 well as give interesting particulars of the history of the seal fisheries, and habits of 

 the seals, as far as Tasmania is concerned. 

 I have, »fcc. 



(Signed) Matthkw Seal, 



Chahman of the Commissioners of Fisheries. 



GOVERNMENT NOTICE. 



(A.) 



The Governor in Council has been pleased, in accordance with the provisions of 

 section 12 of "The Fisheries Act, 1889" (53 Vict., No. 11), to amend and approve of 

 the following Reguhitiou, the same having been made by the Commissioners of Fish- 

 eries, and published in accordance with section 13 of the said Act. 

 By his Excellency's command, 



(For Chief Secretary, absent), 

 (Signed) Alvked T. Fillinger. 



Chief Secretary's Office, October 26, 1891. 



REGULATION. 



1. The taking of seals, whether known by the name of seals or any other local 

 name, in Tasmania and its dependencies, is hereby prohibited for a period of three 

 years from the 20th day of July, 1891 ; and any person committing any breach of this 

 Regulation shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 5/. 



NEWSPAPER EXTRACT. 



(B.) 



Mr. Morton then said that Mr. A. W. Scott, M. A., of New South Wales, was for many 

 years prior to his death a trustee of the Australian Museum, and. acting under instruc- 

 tions from the New South Wales Government, published a most comprehensive work 

 on the classification and habits of the seals found frequenting the Australasian shores, 

 including the Macqnarie Island. Three species of seals are found in these waters: 

 the grey Australian fur-seal {Arctocephalus cinereus), the sea-leopard (Sfenorrhyciihus 

 leptonyx), and the sea-elephant {Mornnfja elcphantiiia). The latter is only found on 

 Macqnarie Island, although it is supposed .at one time to have been met with in the 

 islands in Bass Straits., Mr. Scott, in his work, divides the genus Arciocephahis into 

 two main divisions — the northern fur-seal of commerce, and the southern fur-seal of 

 commerce — (Arctocephalns ursivus and Aretocephalun Falklaiidicus). If, as has been 

 stated by Mr. Scott, that the fur-seal found on our coast is similar, if not identical, 

 with the fur-seal of Alaska, the proposed Regulations recommended by this Board 



are absolutely necessary for their preservation. 

 1.59 At the Fisheries Exhibition, held at London in the year 1883, considerable 



interest was taken in the collection of seals sent by the trustees of the Austra- 

 lian Museum. The skull of one of the seals sent to London was compared with the 



