324 



younger bulls await the end of the active breeding season when the young unbred 

 females appear on the shore to join their first harem. 



And whUe all this activity goes on, the younger male seals, up to six years 

 of age — known as "bachelors" — congregate in their own area nearby. It is from 

 these males that the annual harvest of fur seal skins is taken, primarily from 

 three and four-year old animals. Because the number of males and females at 

 birth is approximately the same, and because the breeding bulls are so polyga- 

 mous, many of these bachelors are surplus ,to maintaining the population of 



the herd. , ^ 



Removing bachelors from the hauling grounds is comparatively easy and does 

 not disturb seals in the breeding rookeries. The weeks from late June until 

 early August find the Aleut sealers on the hauling ground each morning at 

 daybreak. The bachelor seals are driven a short distance inland from the beaches 

 and sorted into progressively smaller groups or "pods," until only those to be 

 harvested remain on the grounds. The seals are dispatched by a single blow to the 

 head with a long club, immediately-followed by sticking the heart. It may look 

 cruel, but it does render a quick death. In fact, no quicker or more eflicient way 

 has been found to kill the animals in spite of a great amount of research over 

 the past three years to find another method. The National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, which administers the Pribilof Island Fur Seal Program, continues to 

 seek an alternative method of disi>atching the animals and this year has a six- 

 man team of consultants referred by the American Veterinary Medical Associa- 

 tion studying the problem on the islands. 



After the pelts are taken, they are transported to a processing plant on the 

 islands where they are cooled and washed, and the fat or blubber is removed. 

 The pelts are then cured in brine ; when this process is complete, they are packed 

 in wooden barrels. 



Fifteen percent of all skins taken by the United States go to Japan and an- 

 other 15 percent to Canada, under terms of an international treaty. In return 

 for a share of the skins, Japan and Canada refrain from what is called 

 "pelagic" — sealing — that is, taking seals at sea. Pelagic sealing is a wasteful 

 process, because the sex or age of seals is most diflScult to determine when they 

 are in the water, and because many animals are merely wounded and lost. 



The Soviet Union harvests fur seals on the Commander Islands and Robben 

 Island and has the same percentage arrangement with Japan and Canada. Repre- 

 sentatives of the four nations meet annually under terms of the Interim Con- 

 vention on the Conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals. 



The Alaska fur seal herd, the world's largest, today nvunbers some 1.3 mil- 

 lion animals. Early in this century, the seals faced extinction as the population 

 declined to about 200,000. Since then, under the sound wildlife management prac- 

 tiecs of the NMFS (formerly the Buerau of Commercial Fisheries), the herd 

 has increased and stabilized. Scientists determine how many seals can be taken 

 each year without endangering the population, and the kill is limited to that 

 number. The restoration of the herd has been hailed throughout the world as an 

 outstanding achievement in wildlife management and conservation. 



NMFS scientists and technicians travel to the Pribilofs to supervise the annual 

 harvest. They join the year-round and temporary Aleut employees who work on 

 all phases of the harvest. Sealing and related services are the only real employ- 

 ment available to the people of the islands. 



The inhabitants are Aleuts, a people said to have been taken to the Pribilofs 

 to harvest seals for the Russians shortly after the islands were discovered. They 

 are generally somewhat shorter than their fellow Americans in the "Lower 48" 

 and somewhat stockier in build. They are not Eskimos, and maintain they are 

 a separate race. Some of the present residents can trace their ancestry back 

 for 180 years ; more than 95 percent were born on the Pribilofs. 



St. Paul, the larger of the two inhabited islands, is home to about 400 residents. 

 Compared to many towns in Alaska, it has excellent physical facilities — reliable 

 electrical service, pure water, a volunter fire department and a sewer system. 

 The frame homes are arranged on streets, and new homes may soon outnumber 

 the older residences. 



The Aleuts are keenly aware of the importance of sealing, because it is their 

 primary source of employment except for the relatively few service and main- 

 tenance jobs. There is no agriculture. St. Paul has several local businesses. There 

 are four cafes, or refreshment stands, two movie houses, several taxis or rental 

 cars, and one intermittent barber shop. 



Since 1962, all workers employed by the United States have received standard 

 government wages in accordance with the work performed and the period for 

 which they were employed. 



