ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



' early larval staff 



The commission reports 

 that there was little evi- 

 dence of serious damage in 

 1916. "The sea lion is un- 

 doubtedly to blame for some 

 torn nets and mutilated fish, 

 but that he alone is to blame 

 is open to question. Nets 

 are commonly torn at other 

 fish centers where the men 

 scarcely know what a sea 

 lion looks like. Valuable ob- 

 servations were made on the 



stomach contents of sea lions killed. Since it has 

 been shown that fish not used for food as well 

 as squid and devil fish are eaten, he cannot at 

 all times be the epicure that some people would 

 have us believe. Although he requires animal 

 food, it is probable that he will take any kind 

 available in quantity to satisfy his hunger. It 

 is even possible that in helping to keep down 

 other injurious species he does more good than 

 harm to the fishing industry, provided he can 

 be kept away from the nets or other fishing 

 gear. If the disappearance of the dogfish is in 

 any sense due to the presence of the sea lion, 

 the sooner the matter is investigated the better. 

 No other species is so much a pest as dogfish." 



In connection with the question as to the 

 amount of food required by an adult sea lion, 

 it might be well to mention that a California 

 sea lion fourteen years old, which has lived in 

 the New York Aquarium for eleven years and 

 which weighed in 1917, (110 pounds, eats about 

 sixteen pounds of fish a day. It would eat more, 

 but this amount has been found sufficient to keep 

 it in good condition. An eight-foot porpoise in 

 captivity requires much heavier feeding. 



Advanced larval stage. 



OCEAN SUNFISH (MOLA MOLA 



OCEAN SUNFISH IMOLA) 



Captured by E. Ehrlein and C. Wagner off 



Long Island, N. V., 1918. 



Careful consideration is given to the commer- 

 cial uses to which sea lion carcasses might be 

 put. The weight of a twelve-foot sea lion was 

 ascertained to be 2210 pounds. The skin and 

 fat are of recognized value, and the meat might 

 also be made use of. There would certainly be 

 fewer objections to the killing of sea lions if 

 the carcasses were utilized. "It will be seen 

 that in paying a bounty of .$2 for each muzzle 

 of a slain sea lion, and disregarding the hide 

 and carcass, there is lost an opportunity to en- 

 courage the prevention of fishing depredations 

 and at the same time, by means of a business 

 organization centered in the government offi- 

 cials, make the sea lion, through its hide and 

 carcass, pay the bounty and more." 



Here we seem to be arriving at a possible 

 solution of the problem. If the latent resources 

 in the herds of sea lions which appear to some 

 undetermined extent to be injurious to the 

 salmon fishery, can be developed, the whole sit- 

 uation will change rapidly. When the sea lion 

 itself becomes the basis of a fishery, in which 

 the leather, oil and guano trades are interested, 

 its conservation will be considered for commer- 

 cial reasons. At present seal oil and leather 

 are derived chiefly from the hair seals of the 

 North Atlantic region. The sea lion of the 

 North Pacific is available for legitimate ex- 

 ploitation. 



"While the commissioners recommend that 

 sea lions should be driven away or greatly re- 

 duced in numbers where it is evident that they 

 are doing appreciable damage, they are not sat- 

 isfied that there is any necessity for decreasing 

 the numbers at other rookeries, except after 

 some organized plan by which the pups could 

 be free from injury, as in the case mentioned 

 off the Oregon coast, in order that the industrial 

 value of the sea-lions should be conserved, and 

 more particularly in view of the possible friend- 

 ly offices of the sea-lion that suggest further in- 

 quiry. Even in the case where it is considered 

 necessary to diminish the number of sea-lions 

 materially, the monetary value of the hide and 



