CHAPTER VII. 



THE DECLINE OF THE HERD. 



ITS HISTORY. 



It necessarily follows from the foregoing review of past and present conditions 

 that the fur-seal herd of the Pribilof Islands has largely declined since it canie into 

 the possession of the United States. That this decline is still in progress is shown 

 by the decrease in breeding seals between the seasons of 1896 and 1897 and in the 

 diminished quota. We may now take up in detail a consideration of this decline and 

 endeavor to trace its history and find its cause. 



RUSSIAN MANAGEMENT. 



Of the condition of the fur-seal herd before it came under American control in 

 1867 we have but little definite information. That it had a varied history we know. 

 The excessive slaughter which threatened its existence in 1799 was stopped by the 

 advent of the Eussian- American Company. Under the earlier years of its regime, 

 however, the seals were indiscriminately slaughtered, females as well as males, the 

 only difference being that it was limited slaughter. 



GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT IN METHODS. 



Gradually the habits and needs of the herd began to be understood by the 

 Eussians and more conservative methods came into vogue. After some catastrophe 

 which involved the herd about the year 1834, of which the cause is not clearly 

 known, the killing of females was prohibited, and for twenty or thirty years before 

 the transfer to the United States in 1867 the killing was limited, as now, to the 

 superfluous males. On coming into the control of the United States the herd was in 

 a growing and prosperous condition. 



THE EQUILIBRIUM OF THE HERD. 



From the growing ease with which the quota was filled in the years 1871-1875, 

 as shown by the gradual recession of the date at which the required number of skins 

 could be obtained, we may infer that the herd even increased somewhat. For a few 

 years longer, or until 1880 or thereabouts, the herd appears to have remained in a state 

 of equilibrium, or at least a state in which there was neither marked increase nor 

 decrease. It is probable that during this period the annual increment of breeders 

 was practically balanced by the various checks acting upon the herd, chief among 

 which were the natural mortality among the young upon land and the natural death 

 of adult females at sea from old age. 



THE BEGINNING OF DECLINE. 



About the year 1884, and more particularly after 1886, a decline began to be 

 observable, gradual at first, then more rapid, becoming in the year 1890 alarming. 

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