EFFECTS OF PELAGIC KILLING. 



151 



assumed the years 1882-1885 as the approximate date, because in the latter year it 

 was necessary to greatly increase the number of drives and the number of hauling 

 grounds driven from to get the regular quota. This will be apparent from an inspec- 

 tion of the preceding table. The cause of this scarcity of killable seals must neces- 

 sarily date back three years, or to 1882. Moreover, within this period occurred the 

 extension of the operations of pelagic sealing into Bering Sea. Again, in the year 

 1882, the pelagic catch was trebled in size and thereafter continued to increase, while 

 from the steady retardation of the date at which the quota could be filled and the 

 increased number of drives necessary, the bachelor herd as steadily declined. 



PELAGIC SEALING AS A CHECK FROM 1871-1880. 



During the long period from 1871 to 1880, we may infer that the pelagic catch 

 had no influence on the herd except perhaps with other causes to neutralize possible 

 increase. With the rise of the catch to 15,000 in 1882, we may assume that the strain 

 was too great and that the equilibrium was broken. The further increase to 24,000 

 in 1885 intensified the decline, and when in 1887 the pelagic catch reached 46,000 it 

 became serious. 



In estimating the influence of the pelagic catch in these early days it must 

 always be borne in mind that the catch as recorded is only a part of the loss which 

 the herd sustained through pelagic sealing. It will never be possible to estimate the 

 loss, due to the killing of animals which were not recovered, but that it was great we 

 have no reason to doubt, and it must not be left out of the account. 



IRREGULAR QUOTA SINCE 1890. 



Since the year 1890 the results of land killing can not be taken as an index of the 

 condition of the herd from year to year. In the years 1891-1893 land killing was 

 arbitrarily contracted under the modus vivendi. The quotas of 1894 and 1895 were 

 influenced by the changed methods of driving practiced in these years, and by the 

 heavy pelagic catches of 1890 and 1891 resulting in the starvation of pups in these 

 years. The quotas of 1896 and 1897 have been in turn slightly influenced by the 

 protection afforded by the modus vivendi, which reduced in a measure the pelagic 

 catch of 1892 and 1893, thus saving pups from starvation. The results of the heavy 

 pelagic catches of 1895 and 1896 have yet to show themselves in the coming quotas 

 of 1898 and 1899. 



PELAGIC SEALING AND THE COMMANDER HERD. 



We may here, for the sake of illustration, compare similarly the land and sea 

 catches from the Commander herd. Pelagic sealing began on this herd in 1891. As 

 the fleet was a large one, its results have been more rapid and disastrous than in 

 connection with the Pribilof herd. The following are the comparative figures: 



Pelagic catch of Commander lierd, 1891-1897. 



