PELAGIC SEALING. 235 



Throughout the extensive Northwest sealing belt the seal herd, while following 

 the coast very closely, keeps as a rule off the plateau included within the hundred- 

 fathom curve. The Fairweather ground is altogether off soundings except in the case 

 of a few stragglers. 



The Vancouver and Farallon grounds lie mostly off soundings, their inshore 

 margins overlapping on the plateau. Elsewhere along the coast seals are found 

 almost entirely off soundings, the submerged plateau being very narrow. 



> In the case of the Farallon and Vancouver grounds, where seals are taken- very 

 close to the coast, there are great salmon runs toward the Sacramento and Columbia 

 rivers and the Straits of Fuca, which may have some iniluence on the seal herd. We 

 know very little about the food of the seal herd during its migration up the coast. 



INSPECTION OP SEAL SKINS — EXCESS OF FEMALES IN THE PELAGIC CATCH. 



In order to give effect to the award rendered by the Tribunal of Arbitration at 

 Paris, relative to the fur-seal fishery, masters of sealing vessels were required to file 

 with collectors of customs full information respecting the sex of all seals taken. 



It soon became evident that the proportion of sexes was not being reported in 

 accordance with the facts, and inspectors of seal skius were appointed to examine 

 all skins entered at United States ports. Practical furriers were selected for this 

 purpose, and as a guide to such persons examining skins an explanatory circular 

 was furnished.i 



The inspections showed in most cases, a much greater proportion of females than 

 was reported by the masters of vessels. Many of the latter discredited the inspections, 

 contending that the sex of skins could not be determined with accuracy. Experience 

 has, however, proved that the sex of salted skins can be determined, except in the case 

 of yearlings. 



Mr. L. J. Hansen, a furrier of thirteen years' experience, who has inspected all 

 catches of seal skins entered at San Francisco since 1894, affirms that the determination 

 of the sex of skins is practicable, except in yearlings, and offers no difficulty with 

 proper care and attention. Mr. Hansen relies mainly on the evidence furnished by the 

 presence or absence of teats and the size and shape of the pelt. He finds the pelt of 

 the female broader in the region of the teats and narrower at the tail end than that of 

 the male of the same size. • , / 



In the circular referred to the directions for the determination of sex furnished 

 by the writer, are as follows : 



As a guide to inspectors in examining skins, appended hereto will be found outline sketches of 

 male and female fur seals, seen from under side after removal of skins, showing the lines along which 

 the cuts are made in skinning (figs. 1 and 2) ; skins of male and female seals, seen from the raw side, 

 showing the positions of the indentations on the margins of the male skin (caused by cutting through 

 the genital opening), and of the teats in the female skin by which the sexes may be determined (figs. 

 3 and 4). The presence or absence of teats furnishes the best evidence as to sex represented by the 

 skins of adult seals, the differences presented by the skins of the two sexes being shown in the figures 

 which accompany this circular. The teats, four in number, are situated near the margins of the skin, 

 abont midway between the flipper holes and the tail end. They are not readily discernible, but their 

 positions will be disclosed by feeling with the fingers over the raw side of the skin, and when found, 

 they can easily be pushed through the fur. In the males, the teats exist only in an undeveloped condi- 

 tion, and the genital opening, cut through by the operation of skinning, forms a slight indentation on 

 each margin of the skin, a short distance in advance of the rear end; these indentations, however, 



' Treas. Dep., Div. Special Agts., Circular No. 75, 1895. 



