98 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



regulations the lessees were unable to take more than 21,238 seals of 

 the killable age of from 1 to 5 years during the season of 1890, so great 

 had been the decrease of seal life in one year, and it would have been 

 impossible to obtain 60,000 skins even if the time had been unrestricted. 



The Table A appended to this affidavit 1 shows how great had been the 

 decrease on St. Paul Island hauling grounds, bearing in mind the fact 

 that the driving and killing was done by the same persons as in former 

 years, and was as diligently carried on, the weather being as favorable 

 as in 1889 for seal driving. I believe that the sole cause of the decrease is 

 pelagic sealing, which from reliable information I understand to have 

 increased greatly since 1884 or 1885. Another fact I have gained from 

 reliable sources is that the great majority of seals taken in the open sea 

 are pregnant or females in milk. It is an unquestionable fact that the 

 killing of these females destroys the pups they are carrying or nursing. 

 The result is that this destruction of pups takes about equally from the 

 male and female increase of the herd, and when so many male pups are 

 killed in this manner, besides the 100,000 taken on the islands, it neces- 

 sarily affects the number of killable seals. In 1889 this drain upon male 

 seal life showed itself on the islands, and this, in my opinion, accounts 

 for the necessity of the lessees taking so many young seals that year to 

 fill out their quota. 



As soon as the effects of the pelagic sealing were noticed by me upon 

 the islands I reported the same, and the Government at once took steps 

 to limit the killing upon the islands, so that the rookeries might have 

 an opportunity to increase their numbers to their former condition ; but 

 it will be impossible to repair the depletion if pelagic sealing continues. 

 I have no doubt, as I reported, that the taking of 100,000 skins in 1889 

 affected the male life on the islands, and cut into the reserve of male 

 seals necessary to preserve annually for breeding purposes in the future, 

 but this fact did not become evident until it was too late to repair the 

 fault that year. Except for the numbers destroyed by pelagic sealing 

 in the years previous to 1889 the hauling grounds would not have been 

 so depleted, and the taking of 100,000 male seals would not have 

 impaired the reserve for breeding purposes or diminished to any extent 

 the seal life on the Pribilof Islands. Even in this diminished state of 

 the rookeries in 1889 I carefully observed that in the majority of cases 

 the 4 and 5 year old males were allowed to drop out of a "drive" 

 before the bachelors had been driven any distance from the hauling 

 grounds. These seals were let go for the sole purpose of supplying 

 sufficient future breeders. 



A few seals are injured by redriving (often conflicted with overdriv- 

 ing and sometimes so called), but the number so injured is inconsiderable 

 and could have no appreciable effect upon seal life through destroying 

 the virility of the male. The decrease, caused by pelagic sealing, com- 

 pelled whatever injurious redriving has taken place on the islands, as 

 it was often necessary to drive every two or three days from the same 

 hauling grounds, which caused many seals let go in a former "drive" 

 to be driven over again before thoroughly rested. If a "drive" was 

 made only once a week from a certain hauling ground, as had been the 

 case before pelagic sealing grew to such enormous proportions and 

 depleted the rookeries, there would be no damage at all resulting from 

 redriving. 



In my opinion pelagic sealing is the cause of redriving on the islands, 

 the depletion of the rookeries, and promises to soon make the Alaska 



1 See " Island Records," Appendix. 



