112 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
steamer Alexander , which arrived at Sail Francisco October 12, 1888, 
brought from the Russian Islands 39,348 skins of fur seals, besides other 
furs. The entire product received from the Commander Islands in 1888 
was 47,362 seal skins.* The total number of fur seal pelages received at 
San Francisco during the season of 1888 amounted, therefore, to 151,817, 
worth, at the low estimate of $L0 each, $1,518, 170.f 
SEA-OTTER HUNTING. 
Although the pursuit of the sea otter ( Fnhydra marina) is carried on 
almost exclusively in Alaskan waters, the business is controlled by San 
Francisco capitalists, who send out vessels and employ natives to hunt. 
The industry therefore deserves mention here, and available statistics 
should be presented. 
Recently there has been a decided decrease in the numbers of the sea 
otter, but the pelage is so valuable (exceeding all others in intrinsic 
worth) | that its pursuit employs a considerable amount of capital aud 
many men at certain seasons of the year. The business is an important 
one for several months, and is relied upon by some of the Aleuts as one 
of their principal sources of income. It is difficult to present complete 
statistics of this branch of the fishery, since the investigation upon 
which this review is based did not cover the region where the fishery 
is prosecuted, aud for that reason the data relating to boats aud men 
employed are not at hand. Vessels engaged in the sea : otter hunt dur- 
ing fall and winter may at other times be utilized as freighters to visit 
different stations or else be employed in the salmon fishery. 
The total number of sea-otter skins received at San Francisco, as 
reported by competent authority, amounted in 1888 to 2,510, large and 
small, and 161 cubs, with an aggregate value of $218,625. In 1889 there 
were 1,901 skins (including 70 cubs), with a value of $164,775. These 
figures include 125 skius, valued at $9,375, that were taken on other 
parts of the coast, and which can not be included under the head of San 
Francisco products. 
Fishing grounds . — The principal localities for the capture of the sea 
otter are about the reefs and outlying islets of the Aleutian chain of 
islands. Sannak and vicinity is a favorite hunting ground. Some- 
times the kalan is taken in the water, but in heavy storms and gales 
it is frequently surprised and killed when asleep on the shores or pro- 
jecting reefs of the islands. Sea otters are also taken occasionally in 
the vicinity of Cape Flattery or the Strait of Fuea. 
* In 1889 this amount was increased to 52,700, and in 1890 52,000 pelts were re- j 
ceived. 
+ In 1888 and 1889 Alaskan fur-seal skins were worth from $15 to $16 in the London 
market, while those from the Commander Islands sold for from $11 to $12. The skins 
are not sold in San Francisco, hut the estimate given above is about what they would 
have brought there had they been put on the market. 
t In Land and Water of August 30, 1890, it was stated that the price of the best pelage 
of sea otter was from $100 to $300 ; medium, $50 to $85 ; brownish, $10 to $25. 
