53 



Title II of the bill would make it unlawful for any person or vessel subject 

 to the jurisdiction of the United States to engage in taking, transporting, im- 

 porting, offering for sale or possession, seals or any part thereof. Certain excep- 

 tions are made for Indians, Aleuts, Eskimos, medical and scientific research uses 

 and for municipal and/or other nonprofit zoos. 



Vessels and their equipment used in violation of the proposed law, as well as 

 seals or the monetary value thereof, would be subject to seizure and forfeiture 

 as for violation of the Oustoms laws. The bill would also impose criminal liabili- 

 ties of fine or imprisonment, or both, for convictions of first and subsequent 

 offenses. 



Enforcement of Title II would be the joint responsibility of the Secretaries of 

 State, Treasury, Interior, Commerce and Transportation. The bill would author- 

 ize them to issue regulations to carry out the provisions of Title II. To avoid 

 the question of whether joint regulations are intended, we suggest if the bill 

 is to be favorably considered that the Committee report include a statement that 

 each Department is to issue regulations in its respective area of responsibility. 



Title III of the bill would terminate the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention 

 and ban the importation of all skins or parts of the Alaskan Fur Seal. This 

 Title would also establish, as a preservation measure, a Pribilof Seal Rookery 

 under the Department of the Interior and a Pribilof Islands Commission, on 

 which would serve the Secretary of the Treasury or his designate. 



This Department has no comment on the merits of the bill. The primary 

 administrative and enforcement interests would seem to be in the Departments 

 of the Interior, State and Commerce. The Department anticipates no unusual 

 administrative or enforcement responsibilities which those Departments, together 

 with this Department and the Department of Transportation, would not be able 

 to fulfill cooperatively. 



The Department anticipates that the seizure and forfeiture provisions of the 

 bill, if it is enacted, involving dispositions of violating vessels, cargos and 

 related property, would place certain enforcement responsibility on the Bureau 

 of Customs, adding additional duties to the existing enforcement workload of 

 Customs ofl5cers. 



The Department has been advised by the Office of Management and Budget 

 that there is no objection from the standpoint of the Administration's program 

 to the submission of this report to your Committee. 



Sincerely yours, 



Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., 



General Counsel. 



The Genebal Counsel of the Tbeasuey, 



Washington, D.C., September 9, 1911. 



Hon. Edward A. Gabmatz, 



Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representa- 

 tives, Washington, D.C. 



Dear Mr. Chairman : Reference is made to your request for the views of this 

 Department on H.R. 8183. "To protect ocean mammals, and for other purposes." 



Title II of the bill would make it unlawful for any person or vessel subject to 

 the jurisdiction of the United States to engage in taking, transporting, import- 

 ing, offering for sale or possession, ocean mammals or any part thereof. Certain 

 exceptions are made for Indians, Aleuts, Eskimos, medical and scientific research 

 and for public or private nonprofit zoos. 



Vessels and their equipment used in violation of the proposed law, as well as 

 ocean mammals or the monetary value thereof, would be subject to seizure and 

 forfeiture as for violation of the Customs laws. The bill would also impose 

 criminal liabilities of fine or imprisonment, or both, for convictions of first and 



subsequent offenses. . ^ ^, ^ 4. • * 



Enforcement of Title II would be the joint responsibility of the Secretaries ot 

 State Treasury, Interior, Commerce and Transportation. The bill would authorize 

 them 'to issue regulations to carry out the provisions of Title II. To avoid the 

 question of whether joint regulations are intended, we suggest if the bill is to be 

 favorably considered that the Committee report include a statement that each 

 Department is to issue regulations in its respective area of responsibility. 



Title III of the bill would terminate the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention 

 and ban the importation of all skins or parts of the Alaskan Fur Seal. This Title 

 would also establish, as a preservation measure, a Pribilof Seal Rookery under 



