RELATING TO PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 85 



Deposition of Harrison Gray Otis, Treasury agent, in charge of the Prihi- 

 lof Islands. 



MANAGEMENT. PELAGIC SEALING. 



Los Angeles, Cal., April 24, 1892. 



Harrison Gray Otis, beingduly sworn, says : I am a resident of this tlie 

 city of Los Angeles, California; am president of the ^^ enence 

 Times-Mirror Company, and editor and manager of the "^pp^^^nce. 

 Los Angeles Daily Times. I was special agent of the Treasury Depart- 

 ment, in charge of the fur-seal islands of Alasi^a during the years 1879, 

 18S0, and 1881, and had three assistant special agents stationed at the 

 islands, acting under my directions. During these years I was present 

 at the islands throughout each sealing season, having my headquarters 

 .on the island of St. Paul, and visiting the smaller island of St. George 

 each season, and with my assistants personally superintended the catch 

 of seals and the count and sliipment of skins in every instan(;e. During 

 every sealing season, from the beginning to the end, I made it my 

 special business to personally visit and inspect the breeding rookeries 

 and the hauling grounds fnun time to time with a view to informing 

 myself accurately as to their real condition, especially as to numbers, 

 habits, and habitat. 



. In all theseyears seals of all classes were present at the islands in 

 vast numbers, so that the annual catch of 100,000 skins, 

 80,000 on St. Paul and 20,000 on St. George, was ^^Abmidance ot seals, 

 taken with great ease and facility, the killing season 

 proper extending over a period of only about forty-five days in each 

 year, and the actual working days being only from thirty-two to thirty- 

 live in each year. 



During my term of service at the islands I made careful and elabo- 

 rate rex)orts each year to the Secretary of the Treasury. In one of these 

 reports, dated July 30, 1881, I embodied a compilation from the official 

 records covering a period from 1871 to 1881, Avith the object of showing 

 the relative abundance of the seal life during thovse years. The tabel 

 was preceded in my report by the following explanatory rj,aiji,.s 

 language: "The following table, covering a period of 

 eleven years, shows : (1) The number of seal skins taken in each sealing 

 season proper on St. Paul's Lslaud; (2) the number of days expended in 

 the work; (3) the number of sealers engaged; (4) the average number 

 of skins taken per day; and (5) the average daily catch per man en- 

 gaged: and it is confidently submitted as the most solid ground we 

 have to stand upon in attempting an answer to the inquiry, 'Are the 

 fur seals of Alaska increasing or diminishing in numbers'?'" 



Briefly summarized, the table shows that the working days for seal- 

 ing proper were reduced from 55 in 1871 to 35 in 1881 ; increase in issi. 

 that the average daily catch was increased from 1,375 

 in 1871 to 2,158 in 1881, and that the daily average catch per man era- 

 ployed was increased from 21 in 1871 to 32 in 1881. 



The i)lain lesson taught by these figures and comparisons is that the 

 vast increase in the seal life due to the proper and ade- „ ^ <■ ^■^^ ^ 

 quate protection of the rookeries and ol the waters 

 adjacent thereto made it i)ossible fi)r the lessees to take the full quota 

 of 100,000 skins in the very short period of from thirty-three to thirty- 

 five working days. In truth, so abundant were the seals during these 

 years that after the close oftlie sealing "season, about July 20, when the 

 entire number of 100,000 skins had been taken, the rookeries and haul- 



