LOSS IF HERD DESTROYED. 2GD 



Alaskan lierd means i^ractically tlie anuiliilatioii Dependence ou 



ALiskan liuid. 



of the seal-skin industry of the world. There- 

 fore, the extent and value of this industry, the 

 consequent loss in case pelagic sealing is not 

 prohibited, besides the loss to the United States 

 Government by destruction of the seal herd, are 

 matters for consideration in this connection. 



LOSS IF HERD DESTROYED. 



Under the present lease of the Pribilof Islands ^^^^l *" ^""'^^'^ 

 the United States Government derives a revenue 

 on each raw skin taken on the islands of over ten 

 dollars;^ and under the same conditions which 

 existed prior to the introduction of pelagic seal- 

 ing, as it is now carried on, 100,000 seals could 

 be annually taken upon tlie Pribilof Islands, as 

 has been shown, without impairment of the seal 

 herd.^ The annual revenue from this source 

 to the United States would, therefore, be over 

 $1,000,000. Besides this profit the United States 

 Government received a further revenue from 

 Alaskan seals reshipped to America from Eng- 

 land. At least seventy per cent of the Alaska 

 skins are imported into the United States after 

 being dressed and dyed in the city of London. 



1 Lease to North American Commercial Company, Vol. I, p. 106. 

 idnie, p. 164, 



