The record-union., 1891-04-08
SEALS PRESERVE THE FOOD FISH
The Fur Seal is Beneficial, Not Injurf-
Gus, to the supply of Food Fishes.

Gus, to the supply of Food Fishes.
In Census Bulletin No. 80, March Is,
1891 Washington, D. CO., upon the
Wealth and Resources of Alaska" Su-
perlntendent Porter makes the following
statement i'll his letter of introduction to
Special Agent Petroff7s report:
"One Of the most eminent authorities
on Alaska recently stated it as his belief
that the salmon, cod and herring fisher
les OF the Territory would become of such
immense value in the event Of the entire
destruction of the fur seal, which now
preys upon the fish, that its possible eX
termination is a contingency that need
not excite serious alarm.'
As this subject Of what influence the fur
seal herd had and has upon the supply of
food fishes for man, is one which has often
been discussed during the last six or
seven years among ichthyologists and
naturalists generally at the Smithsonian
Institution and Of the United States Fish
commission, 1t IS not q new theme; but
the verdict Of experts here is diametri-
cally opposed to the statement above
made by Mr.. Porter's authority as he
quotes him.
Curiously enough, on page eight of this
Bulletin No. 80, appears the following
significant suggestion by Special Agent Pc
troff of the real and most destructive en-
emy which these food fishes have to en-
counter:
THE waters OF Prince William Sound
contain, perhaps, less fish than other sec
tlons OF the Territory, the most abund-
ant species being the dogfish, which seems
to have driven away the Goldfish and
nearly eXterminated the herring, upon
which it feeds''
This is the same dogfsh GSqudIuS
dcdnth10S) that VeXeS the soul of the East
coast fishermen from Massachusetts up
to the Gulf of st. Lawrence; it is the same
ill-tavOred sea-wolf that these men recog-
nlze there as the most active and deadly
enemy Of the cod, lake and pollock. 1t is
none the less destructive in the waters of
the \ Northwest Coast and Alaska, going as
far north as the 60o of north latitude in
Behring Sea, and ranging as far south as
Cape MendocinO, coast of California.
1T is especially numerous and voracious
all through the littOral waters between
the Straits of Fuca and Kodiak, and it
leeds largely upon young Goldfish from
two to six inches in length, young salmon
fry and herring.
Now, what has mainly prevented these
dog1lshes from so multiplying so as to
produce the same result OF ruin to the cod
and herring fisheries everywhere else in
Alaska, as is declared to be the case in
Prince William Sound, by Special Agent
PetrOff, above cited?
Why, the fur seal. He is the chief and
only pronounced hunter of the dogfsh;
man rejects all fishing Of that creature as
Improbable, except in very small way
for it's oil; but the fur seal regards the
SQUotuS as its especial and most tooth
some game, and feeds fat upon its plump
oily body, with soft gelatinous fins;
bites the head off at the nape and usually
rejects it, because the teeth are sharp and
hard and unpleasant when involved in
the slight mastication that this animal
ever gives to its food. OF course, do not
deny that the fur seal eats cod, salmon
and herrings, wolf-tishes, sculpins and
crabs.
A little reflection will teach most men
that nature has kept a perfect system of
checks and balances upon the relative
status Of all wild life, and that when man
steps IN to disturb that system Of natural
equilibrium he generally makes a blum
der and strives hard to atone for it after
ward.
OF course, if we could protect the food
fishes of Alaska from this dogfsh, their
own most natural enemy, and other enc
mics, as well rs the fur seals can and do
then there would be no argument on that
score in favor of saving these animals;
but until we are equal to that task it is
best to let the fur seal life remain. with
out reference to several other excellent
and weighty reasons why it should not
be greedily and thoughtlessly exposed to
the positive danger of swift extermina-
ton by the hands of unchecked pelagic
sealerS.
Ii your readers who are really interested
i'll the subject of the preservation of the
food fish fisheries of Alaska will turn to
recent report upon the Salmon and
Salmon Rivers of Alaska" by DIR. T. H.
Bean, L. $. Fish Commission they will
find in its pages abundant proof that
the chief enemy to-day, and its only one.
to the well being and perpetuation of this
industry up there is man himself, and
that the seals cut no figure in the trouble.
Henry ". Elliott G7l Forest and Stream.