The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-03-13 00:00:00

A PLEA FOR THE SEALS 1„,o

Mr. Frank Buckland, Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, has
sent the following letter to The Times for publication
Sir —I am delighted to see in The Times of to-day
that Mr. William Price, M.P.' has asked the Pre-
sident of the Board of Trade whether any Interna-
tional agreement as to a close time for seal-fishing had
yet been arrived at.
Mr. Jennings, of the Board of Trade, has been sent
down to Dundee and has reported upon the subject.
Although Parliamentary papers relative to this in-
quiry have just been distributed, kindly allow me
space for particulars as to this important matter.
Captain David Gray, of the sealing and whaling ship
Eclipse, and myself first brought forward some three
years ago the necessity of a close time for Arctic seals.
The principal sealing ground is at Jan Mayan Island,
1,300 miles due north from London. Seals resort to
this island and thereabouts to breed. There are four
• species inhabiting the Greenland Seas—viz., the harp
lor saddle-back; thb bladder-nosed orhooded, the bearded
„seal, and the floe-rat. These seals are none of them fur
,seals, but yield oil worth £5O per tun. Seal and whale
oils are the only oils which will dress jute properly.
Juteis avegetable fibre grown in India and largely used
in British manufactures. The annual value of the seal
oil from the above fishings is about £250,000. This
great commercial interest is now in jeopardy, inasmuch
-a unless there is some speedvelegislation the seals will
le utterly destroyed. ,A fleet of ships is engaged
Very spring in this work of destruction. Twenty
;earners and a few sailing vessels go from this country,
especially from Peterhead and Dundee; 27 are Nor-
-egians, of which 12 are steamers; five steamers sail
Germany, two from Sweden, and one Dutchman
- x;.11, 60 gtil. :
'1 ships arrive at the ice from the I,sth to the 20th
of h, just'as the young seals are born. The seal
hunters at once attack them, and most horxible cruelty
ensues. I quote Captain Gray's Own words to me
Last year the fleet set to worltto kilc the seals on the
20th of Mare!'. 1874, and in forty-eight hours the fishing Was
completely over, the old ones being shot, wounded, or scared
away, -while thousands upon thousands of young ones were
left crying' piteously for their mothers. These mostly
.perished of famine in the snow, as they were not old enough
to rnake'wOrth while the trouble of killing them. If you
could imagine yourself surrounded by four or five hundred
thousand babies, all crying at the-pitch of. their voices, you
haYe some idea of the piteous noise they make. Their
is' very like. that of a human infant. These motherlef,s
collect into lots of five or six and crawl about the ice,
*leads fast becoming
i te.biggest part of. their bodies,
ng, n., doubt to fin phis tkourisluneist they stand so
,
..en in want of."
,
These little seals are called "cats ; " they increase.in.
size amazingly fast, and if left to grow for a few days'
the oil would be of value, while their skins (used folfr
patent leather and boots of the best quality) would be' 1
adailable.
As there is no law regulating seal-killinOn the far-
distant Arctic-Ocean, the sealers act upon the principle
of "first come first served." They are all anxious to
allow the parents to breed and the " cats " to grow to
a killable size, and this would.he done‘sif aytkl.4erna-
- agreement conliktg,ftavgA ion „pi
The Swedes aniti4orwegll'BTie wining not to begin
till the Ist of April; Peterhead and Dundee are will-
in, to compromise the matter by beginning on the 3rd
of April. It is hardly necessary to fix a limit when
the destruction shall cease, as the seals, young and
old, very soon learn how to take care of themselves ;
nevertheless, it would be as well to come to an agree-
ment on this point also. Peterhead puts it any day
not later than the 30th of June.
The young seals are born from the 15th to the 22nd
of March. The International law should not allow
them to be kil ed before the 3rd of April—better the
6th of April—thus giving them about eighteen days to
grow. If this is isst done there will be shortly an end
to the seal fishing altogether.

tional