148 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 
1891, took a small catch of 8,000 seals from the Commander herd. In 1892, when the 
ciodus vivendi was renewed and made effective, a larger number of vessels crossed. 
over at the close of the spring sealing off the Northwest Coast; and in 1893, Bering Sea 
being again closed, the greater part of the sealing was transferred to the Asiatic side. 
The growth of the catch from the Commander Island herd was very rapid. Beginning 
with 8,000 skins in 1891, it numbered 66,000 skins in 1893. 
THE DECLINE OF THE CATCH. 
During the period from 1868 to 1880 the pelagic catch was merely nominal, ranging 
from four to five thousand skins yearly. With the year 1881 it increased steadily 
until 1894, when the maximum was reached in a catch of 141,143 skins. Since that 
year it has rapidly declined to a total of about.39,000 skins in the season of 1897. 
The following table will make clear the fact of this decline: 
| Year. | Pribilof Commander 
herd. | herd ae 
61, 838 79, 305 
56, 291 37, 035 
43, 917 24 191 
24, 321 18, 801 | 
UNFAVORABLE WEATHER NOT THE CAUSE OF DECLINE. 
The decline in the pelagic catch has been explained by the sealers as due to 
unfavorable weather! and ill luck in locating the animals rather than to any lack of 
seals. It is unnecessary here to discuss the matter at length. Reference to Mr. 
Townsend’s notes and tables of daily catches, published in Part ITI of this report, will 
show clearly enough that no marked difference has existed between the weather 
conditions of recent seasons and those of earlier ones. The real cause of the decline 
in the pelagic catch, of course, is the depleted condition of the herd. With a herd 
reduced to less than one-fifth its original size it could not be reasonably expected 
that the usual number of animals could be found at sea. 
PELAGIC KILLING AND LAND KILLING COMPARED. 
It will help us to arrive at a just appreciation of the relation of pelagic sealing to 
the history of the fur-seal herd if we compare its catch with that taken on the islands. 
In the following table we have this comparison fully set forth. There is given, in 
addition to the total number of males killed for all purposes, the date at which the 
quota was each year filled, the number of hauling grounds which it was necessary to 
drive from, and the number of drives required. These are taken from the records of 
the islands. The statistics of the pelagic catch are taken from the official data of the 
Treasury Department, which is given in full in Appendix I. 
' Ber. Sea Quest., Dept. Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa, 1896, Venning, p. 16. 
