66 



3. Only sailiug vessels with iiudecked boats or canoes can be used in sealing. 



4. Each sealing vessel shall take out a special license and shall fly a distinguishing 

 flag. 



5. Each master of vessel engaged in fur-seal fishing shall record in his ofiicial log 

 book the place, number, and sex of fur seals captured each day. 



6. The use of nets, firearms, and explo8i\'es in Bering Sea is forbidden. 



7. The two Governments must see that men engaged in fur-seal fishing shall be fit 

 to handle the weapons used. 



8. These regulations shall not apply to Indians of either country using undecked 

 boats of the usual sort outside of Bering Sea and not under contract for delivery of 

 skins to any particular person. 



9. These regulations for "the protection and preservation of the fur seals" shall 

 remain in force until they have been in whole or in part abolished or modified by 

 common agreement between the United States and Great Britain. The regulations 

 are to be submitted every five years to a new examination, and to be modified if 

 experience shows the need of change. 



These regulations, nominally "for the protection and preservatiou of the fur seals," 

 may be each briefly considered : 



1. Sixty-mile zone. — The 60-mile closed zone aft'ords no real protection to the fur 

 seal. It floes preserve the rookeries from invasion, aud its i-stablishmeut is of 

 prime importance, both as preventing direct raids on the islands and as afibrding a 

 precedent for real protection. A 10-mile limit could be easily invaded by canoes, 

 but a 60-mile limit Iveeps all sailing vessels too faraway. It is not likely that fur 

 seals often feed within the 60-mile limit, aud it is not certain tliat any more seals 

 would be taken ata-lo-mile limit from St. Paul than would be at a 100-iuile distance. 

 It is, however, evident that the radii of the movements of seals must converge as the 

 island is approached. In any adjustment the patrol of some closed zone must be 

 maintained. 



2. Open season. — The most important part of the open season is now the month of 

 August. In that month tlie greatest number of seals are on the feeding grounds in 

 Bering Sea. There is less fog then than in .June and July, and severe storms are rare. 

 The conditions for cajiture of seals are more favorable. It is in August also that 

 pelagic sealing can work most harm to the herd. The injury to the herd depends 

 solely on the number of females taken. AN'hether these are killed in the si)ringwhen 

 gravid with pup or in the fall to leave the pup to starve to death makes no ])ractical 

 diff"erence. In September seals are abundant, but the autumn storms drive the 

 schooners out from Bering Sea soon after the middleof the month. Alter the middle 

 of August the skins become inferior through "stagincss," incident to the change of 

 fur. In general the bulk of the seal herd reaches Bering Sea early in June. June 

 and .hily have not been regarded as good mouths for ]>elagic sealing. The needs of 

 parturition and impregnation, with the rigid disci])liuf of the harem system, keep 

 about one-haif of the females on the rookery for most of that time. Those going 

 toward the islands probably ilo not loiter very much. In February, March, April 

 and May the seals move northward along the coast and are taken at various jioints 

 from California to Alaska. According to ilr. Alexander most of the old males 

 winter in the Fairweather grounds in the Gulf of Alaska. Of the spring mouths 

 probably May is the most favorable for pelagic sealing. This month is now included 

 in the close season. As the seal herd is steadily diminishing, the spring or "North- 

 west Catch " is becoming relatively unimportant. In 1896 most of the sealing 

 schooners were on the Japan coast in May and .lune during the migrations of the 

 Commander lierd, returning in July to Unalaska in time for repairs and to enter 

 Bering Sea August 1. 



It is reported that the Japan catch has been this year un]lrofitable, having fallen 

 ofl:" half since last year. This is not surprising, as the Counnander l.sland herd, which 

 furnishes most of this catch, has been rapidly declining in numbers. It has suffered 

 from pelagic sealing much more severely than has been the case Avith the Pribilof 

 herd. At its l)est the number of seals on Bering and Medui islands was about half 

 the number found on St. Paul and St. George. The Commander herd is at present 

 certainly less than one-third the size of the Pri])ilof herd. 



ISo change in the pi-esent close season nor in the regulations connected with it, 

 not even if involving the closure of Bering Sea, would ])e effective in saving the 

 herd if pelagic sealing is permitted at all. The maintenance of the herd demands 

 the prohibition of indiscriminate killing. No final settlement is possible except on 

 the basis of the amicable surrender of the right to kill fur seals at sea.. 



3. Steam vessels not permitted. -The requirement that only sailing vessels shall be 

 used is in the interests of small shipowners. Steam craft would lose less time, but 

 as the work of sealing is done in canoes, there would be no great advantage in the 

 use of steam vessels, especially in view of the price of coal at Unalaska. 



4. Special license and fiag. — The minor requirements of a special license and a 

 special flag for sealing schooners are, of course, convenient for purpose of record or 

 recognition at sea. 



