l^UK-SEAL, INDUSTRY OP THE COMMANDEE ISLANDS 
301 
CONDITIONS AFTER 1897 UNTIL THE TREATY OF 1911 
Pelagic sealing. — The first circumstance to be noted is that pelagic sealing, which 
started so destructively to the Russian herd in 1892, continued without let or hin- 
drance. The 30-mile protected zone around the islands, without time limit, was 
absolutely valueless as a protection for the seals. Moreover, pelagic sealing on the 
Asiatic side was fully four times as disastrous, in proportion to the stock of seals, 
on the Russian islands as was the destruction visited on the American seals. The 
pelagic catch fell off so rapidly as to become unprofitable to the Canadian and Amer- 
