THE GAME BREEDER 



49 



THE FUR SEAL. 



By Wilfred H. Osgood, Edward A. Preble and Geo. H. Parker. 



Document No. 820, The Fur Seals 

 and Other Life of the Pribolof Islands, 

 Alaska, in 1914, from Bulletin of Bureau 

 of Fisheries, is an important pamphlet 

 containing 172 pages of text and num- 

 erous maps and half-tone illustrations. 

 In the Spring of 1914, at the instance 

 of the Secretary of Commerce, steps 

 were taken to send three investigators 

 to th Pribolof Islands to examine and 

 report on the condition of the fur seal 

 herd, Wilfred H. Osgood, Edward A. 

 Puble and George H. Parker, and the 

 report is valuable and entertaining. 



"The effect of pelagic sealing," we 

 are told, "has been the subject of much 

 discussion." During the period from 

 1880 to 1911 approximately 900,000 

 skins were secured and marketed by the 

 pelagic sealers. From three to five seals 

 were killed and every one retrieved and a 

 large percentage were females whose un- 

 born pups perished and whose pups on 

 land were left to starve, and the total 

 losses ran well into the millions. In 

 every season since 1890, the recorded 

 pelagic catch exceeded the land catch, 

 so that during this period of steady de- 

 cline of the herd even the primary losses 

 due to pelagic sealing were greater than 

 those of land killing. 



A Valuable Property. 



To those familiar with the seal herd 

 during periods of expansion it may seem 

 small at present but the observer who 

 sees it now for the first time can not 

 fail to be convinced that it is still a large 

 and exceedingly valuable property. We 

 have a herd of nearly 300,000 seals un- 

 der practically complete control on both 

 land and sea. 



"The herd," we are told, "is now be- 

 yond the danger point." "A law re- 

 stricting killing does not guard against 

 the cupidity of any private individual 

 or any Government employee, because 

 under the new system no one can gain 

 by excessive killing under private leas- 

 ing, whether or not irregularities existed, 

 it is conceivable that the system might 



have offered temptation to dishonest 

 parties ; but under full governmental ad- 

 ministration circumstances can scarcely 

 be imagined in which individual officers 

 could derive personal profit at the ex- 

 pense of the goverment's interest." 



Flexible Regulations Desirable. 



"The nature of sealing as a business 

 is such that restrictions of a fixed and 

 absolute character are highly imprac- 

 ticable. Living animals, subject to the 

 ravages of disease, to the wounds of 

 natural enemies, to the vicissitudes of 

 an unusually stressful existence, and to 

 the varying breeding habits cannot be 

 successfully managed under inflexible 

 rules laid down long in advance. The 

 establishment of closed seasons for game 

 animals, especially those of the deer 

 family is quite a different matter from 

 the killing of fur seals. If all the elk, 

 caribou, or antelope living came annu- 

 ally to a Government reservation when 

 they could be enumerated and propor- 

 tioned as to age and sex, there would be 

 no reason to prohibit the killing of males 

 not needed as breeders." The same may 

 be said of the polygamous pheasants 

 the breeders should and do kill the cock« 

 not needed as breeders. 



"The fur seal," the report says, "is by 

 nature and habits almost strictly com- 

 parable to a domestic animal and the 

 principles governing its management 

 should unquestionably be those employed 

 by breeders of live stock. Rigid rules 

 of procedure are as inadvisable in the 

 case of the seals as they would be with 

 horses or sheep. 



Conclusions. 



Conclusions regarding the effect of 

 existing laws, especially the law of 1912, 

 as seen in the light of conditions in 1914, 

 may be summarized as follows : 



(1) The law effects a suspension of 

 sealing for six years instead of five and 

 sealing has now been restricted for 

 three years. 



(2) The benefits of the law as a pro- 



