New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-08
SEAL HERDS DISAPPEARING.
THE WORK OF EXTERMINATIoN GOES
RAPIDLY on.
INVESTIGATIONS oF THE MIXED COMMISSION IN
THE NORTHERN sEAs-NEws FROM
THE PRlRYLOFFS.

THE PRIBYLoFFs.
c., r-,ro,sco Sent The steamship Homer ar
ried from Inalaska Yesterday having on board the
% ooo sealskns allotted by the Government 10 the
North American Commercial Company for the pres
season - go
Among the passengers was J. Stanley Brown SUI
n.r,rtendent OF the North American Commercial
Company and formerly private secretary 10 f'ts'
dent James A. Garfield whose son-n-la" ne Is MI
Rrown IN an interview with the United Asso-
ciated Presses last night said:
The catch Of the sealing fleet this season proves
10 be light 1t is doubtful If II will average foui
hundred skins a vessel or a total or less tnah 'hirN
thousand skins. Sealers report seals scarcer IMAM
ever before and there is no pretence made 10 con-
coal the fact that the herds have about disappeared
Captain Hooper in charge of the Behring Sea patrol
is conducting an efficient supervision over the seal
ing grounds TO prevent Expectations. Ihus Tar SIN
seizures have been made Of schooners Tor peae'c
dshing-the Aurora British. the James 3 swan ana
the lane Gray. American and the Ainoko the viva
and the Beatrice Canadian
The Behring Sea Mixed Commission OF Ameri-
cans Canadians and British. under the leadership
of President Jordan of Stanford University. arrived
at the Pribyoffs on July 6 1t is the finest body OF
men that could have possibly been gathered together
for such scientific investigation. with the great
commercial and international questions attached TO
IT, The work Of the Commission has been most
thorough and the results attained are likely 70 be
the most satisfactory Of any work thus far done IN
the way of Investigating the present condition OF
seal life and to make recommendations or suggest
conditions IN the protective regulations now IN force
The Commission will not cease IT'S Investigations
until about the middle of September or the nrst OF
October when the dead pups resulting from the
shooting of the mothers at sea will have been
counted
Or Stegnegar OF Washington. d. c.. spent the
early part Of the season on the Prbylofs and then
proceeded with Captain Morse 70 the Commander
Islands Bennett Hamilton. the London lawyer. had
already proceeded the Commander Islands. thence
to Japan. and will arrive in San Francisco some
time this month on August e DR. Jordan and Pro-
fessor Thomson OF Dundee also started for the
Commander Islands on the British warship Satellite,
leaving Or Lucas and Secretary Clarke to continue
the work on the Pribylofs Or. Jordan has prob
ably returned Unalaska by this date He will
leave for san Francisco about September 10. but
some OF the party will remain At 81 George Island to
complete the work OF the Commission.
The Alhafross should arrive in san Francisco
during the present month. by way Of Honolulu She
was 20 visit the Commando Islands. of the coas.
Of Kamschatka. Robin Reef. in the Okhotsk Sea.
and the Kurile Islands near Japan. upon which
seven or eight rookeries arc known 20 have eX-
istcd All the members Of the Commission were in
the best Of health
c n Townsend a member OF the United Sta ,es
Fish Commission returned from Unalaska last
evening Speaking OF the work accomplished by the
Mixed Commission and the condition OF the seal
herds Mr. Townsend says
'Dr Jordan the leader OF the joint Commission.
asked me- TO say to any newspaper man that he
knows Of no other cause potent in the destruc-
ton Of a great seal herd peagic or ocean sea-
ing The V}ehring Sea thrown open In 1894, and
thirty eight vessels entered and got $1,000 skins IN
1875 nftv-seven vessels went in and took over 4Ren
skins This year there are seventy vessels IN
Behrine Sea but they will not get more than 800"
seals They are bound TO make light catch simply
because there arr not seals enough. The catch OF
th. thirty vessels boarded between August 10 and
y amounted 10 900 skins. and that is for about
half the fleet at nearly the middle OF the season
THE rookeries look bad ana pups are already be-
ginning o their mothers nave beeil
killed while outside the siXty-mile limit hunting
nsh and preparing to return to the iooaerles 10
euckls the pups for four or five days before GONG
yearly decreasing This year II VIII be zvp sklhs Il
vessel smaller than I'm 1895 There was light eaten
his season on the Japan coast. Il amounted PROB
ably 10 3 skins. do not think any more prom
able catches will be made off that coast .
The Pribylof group OF Islands, nortn oil tny
Alaskan Archipelago. is the great breeuihs srou"u
for the American herd OF seal, the tomInahdrt
group Of islands, near kamschatka. on the ASA u
Edo is the breeding ground for the seal herd or
,hat coast The seals from both these great rook-
cries migrate southwark in summer without mn
Cling and spread great areas OF ocean. nc
| Asiatic herd gets AZ far south as Yokohama the
Amorican herd as far south Santa Barbara
Russa's thirtv-rnile limit and Americas sixty
lirni, about the rOOkeres are lnerectual IN plrN'l'
ing the extermin ltiOn Of the seals Inc nl'rl
S,9.es Gould forbid any of it's vessels 10 engage In
neagic sealing but Canada might persist IN CAIN
no tights i'm The open sea II Canada has rights II
would pay our Government to buy them