ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1287 



VF.LLOW FINNK.U (iKOll'KK ( .1/ V( VAV, ' i/'AV;! . I I7i:.V/';A7).SM ) 

 P'roni a photojrraph by Khvin R. Sanborn. 



before. In tliis case an inquiry concerning the 

 food habits of sea lions was made by the United 

 States Commission of Fislieries, with the result 

 that the claims made by the fishermen were 

 shown to be largely without foundation. 



According to information received from the 

 fisheries authorities of Canada, the report of 

 the committee of the Biological Board is hoped 

 for at an early date. 



In this connection it may be well to discuss 

 a little further the subject of sea lions and 

 other seals in their relation to the fisheries and 

 to point out the generally injurious effects of 

 bounties paid for the destruction of animals 

 presumed to be harmful. 



The destruction of wild life is by no means 

 limited to game animals taken for sport and 

 food or to animals valuable for their skins, oil 

 or other products. Sometimes a species that is 

 not valued commercially, may be seriously 

 threatened by men through mere ignorance or 

 jjrejudice. 



This is the case with the two species of sea 

 lions inhabiting our west coast. From the fact 

 that such animals at times eat fish, it occasion- 



ally becomes necessary to defend them against 

 the attempts of fishermen and legislators to 

 destroy them by wholesale methods. Many 

 kinds of harmless birds and mammals have been 

 the victims of bounties that eventually were 

 shown to be both expensive to the taxpayer and 

 injurious to the agriculturist. 



About fifteen years ago, naturalists went.to 

 the rescue of the California sea lion which the 

 fishery interests of the Pacific coast proposed 

 to destroy by the thousands. It was asserted 

 that there were 30,000 sea lions on the coast 

 consuming salmon in large numbers. 



An investigation by the federal authorities 

 showed that there were probably less than 

 .'5,000 sea lions in that region and that their 

 food consisted chiefly of squid and only to a 

 moderate degree of fish and those of species of 

 no great commercial value. 



Sea lions sometimes get into fish traps and 

 do damage to both fish and netting, but the 

 charge that they were annihilating the salmon 

 was easy to make and difficult to prove. 



Before the advent of civilization on the Pa- 

 cific Coast, both salmon and sea lions were 



