SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. IJ 



in Bering Sea, in addition to the North Pacific catch, without such a 

 loss being perceptible. 



As stilted under the heading referring to the condition of the rook- 

 eries in 1804, the beneficial results of the cessation of sealing in May 

 and June were apparent oii the seal islands in July. This would seem 

 to indicate that' a respite of two months in addition to such protection 

 as was afforded by the modus vivendi, would be sufficient to keep the 

 seal herd in its present condition. We may also infer that any addi- 

 tional restrictions that might be placed on sealing in the Xorth Pacific 

 would count as a gain, and i)erinit an increase in the herd in proportion 

 to the protection afforded, provided, of course, that there be no increase 

 in the size of the sealing fleet. 



Accompanying this report are a series of photographs illustrating 

 some of the features of sealing with spears, and also a chart showing 

 the distribution of the seal herd on its feeding grounds in Bering Sea. 



DATA OBTAINED FROM THE SEALING FLEET. 



The following tables' contain the dailj^ sealing data of the pelagic 

 sealing fleet in Bering Sea during August and September, 1894, giv- 

 ing the catch of each vessel, sex of seals taken, latitude and longitude 

 of each day's operations, with more or less data on the crew, boats, 

 and hunters of ea(5h vessel. With exception of one vessel not yet 

 returneil it is complete for the American portion of the sealing fleet. 

 The data tor Canadian vessels are given for such vessels as 1 was able 

 to board in Bering Sea. The remainder having turned in their log 

 books to the collector at Victoria I could not complete the work ^vhen 

 I went there. 



A record of the daily operations of the pelagic sealing fleet, even in 

 part, yields new and valuable information. It shows the number of 

 males and females at ditterent distances from the Pribilof Islands, the 

 portions of Bering Sea most frequented by the seals, the exact number 

 of days during the season when the weather permitted of seals being 

 taken; ^ it is data upon which to base an accurate map of seal distribu- 

 tion during the breeding season, etc. These records, kept by the seal- 

 ers in accordance with the regulations put in force by the Paris award, 

 constitute the first accurate information of the kind and supply data 

 respe(;tiiig the seals at sea, of which we have long been in need. 



The daily records of the sealers should have been collected by the 

 custom-houses to which they reported, but it was neglected, and I have 

 had to search for them, as some of the discharged masters carried their 

 log books away with them, making it very difticult to collect the informa- 

 tion. 



The catch of the Canadian ])ortion of the fleet in Bering Sea appears 

 to be 2(>,.'i4:l. By questioning many of the sealers at Victoria I ascer- 

 tained it to be 26,312, which tallies very closely with the figures given 

 in the rejiort of the collector at Victoria, 26,;U1. This number, plus the 

 American catch of 5,201, nmkes the Bering Sea pelagic catch of 1894 

 31,542, unless there were vessels sealing in Bering Sea of which we 

 have no knowledge, which is very doubtful. 



There were 27 Canadian vessels in Bering Sea and only 11 American 

 vessels. The Canadian vessels hunting with Indian spearmen from 

 Vr.ncouver and Queen Charlotte islands were very successful, while the 



' The cables referred to will be found appended to the report for 1895. 

 -Thi ) is i)artly worked out in the tables following for August and September. 

 S. Doc. 137, pt. 2 2 



