CONTENTS 



Introduction 1 



The Russian period, 1786-1867 1 



Establishment of the fur seal industry 1 



Research during the Russian period 4 



The interregnum, 1868-69 4 



Sealing during the change of ownership 4 



Research during the interregnum 6 



The Alaska Commercial Company (1870-89) and the rise of pelagic sealing 7 



Sealing under a monopoly operator 7 



The rise of pelagic sealing 7 



Research during the first lease, 1870-89 8 



The North American Commercial Company (1890-1901) and the first international treaty (1891) 10 



The modus vivendi of 1891-93 10 



The Paris tribunal and regulations of 1 893 11 



Research during the second lease, 1890-1909 11 



The transition years, 1910-11 19 



The period of population recovery, 1912-39 20 



The Osgood, Preble, and Parker study, 1914 22 



Routine management for 25 years, 1915-39 23 



The modern period, 1940-64 26 



Establishment of continuous research, 1940-51 26 



The three-nation investigation of 1952 38 



Studies in the harvesting of female seals", 1953-57 39 



The four-nation investigations of 1958-64 42 



Literature cited 53 



References 62 



Index 64 



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