The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-10-16

"pelagic" sealing. "Pelagic" signifies
lin the open sea-" and pelagic seal fish
ers take their prey from the sea itself.
When the seals leave the islands, they
swim to the southeast at first moving
at such a rate that the temperature Of
the water they are In undergoes little
change. BY the end OF January they
are 300 or 400 miles west and southwest
Of San Francisco. They then turn to
the northeast and reach the coast at
about the latitude OF San Francisco, or
a little south. i'm February.
Then they leisurely follow the coast
line northward. passing the mouth of
Puget sound and the British Columbia
coast line in March. BY May and June
they are back in the Bering sea, ready
TO take their summer rest.
The peagic sealers begin their pursuit
Of the seals az soon as they leave the
islands and follow them round the year
through. When the weather is fairly
good for an entire season. a pelaglc
sealer may make a decidedly large
catch. But il is impossible, when the
seals are taken in the open sea, TO re-
strict the take TO bachelors" Both
sexes and all ages are slaughtered. And.
of course. "A large pelagic catch means
great depletion Of the herd the follow
ing summer at the Pribilof islands 1t
was in the eighties. when sealskin gar
ments were first greatly affected by wo-
men. that these conditions began to be
serious
Naturally paying such a large rental
for the rookeries. the Alaska CONNER
cial company appealed TO the United
States government for protection, and
the government, after making proper
regulations. began TO seize vessels en-
gagged in pelagic sealing i'm the Bering
sea Some of the vessels were owned
by British subjects, and they made
great outcry.
No attempt was made by this gov
ernment to interfere with seal fishing
i'm the Pacific ocean. but the wrangling
went on with increasing bitterness. At
the same time. although the sealers
were practically kept out OF the Bering
sea for three or four years, the pelagic
catch increased rapidly, the take in 1891
being $4,000, in 1892 $4,000 and in 1894
100000
BY this time the summer herd at the
islands had been so depleted that the
take there had been reduced from a
maximum OF 100. 900 To less than one
fifth that number. and Great Britain 1T
last yielded to Americas request for
conference and arbitration. A commits
sion composed of representatives OF
both governments and some from neu-
trail powers met in Parts under the ar
rangemcnts thus agreed upon In 1873.
and the whole dispute was gone over In
great detail.
1t was contended by the United states
that this gOVernment had a property
right i'm the seals as well as In the
islands and that pelagic sealing should
he stopped. The representatives OF Great
Britain held that her fishermen had
right to take seals wherever they found
them more than three miles from shore,
either I'm the Pacific ocean or the Bering
sea- The result of the deliberations was
an agreement prohibiting all seal fish
ing between May / and Aug. /, the pro-
hihition of fishing at any time Wlihih
go miles Of the islands and a regulation
that spears only and not firearms should
be- used i'm the fisheries.
These regulations. however. Apply
only to the eastern part of the Pacihc
ocean and the Bering sea. II was eN-
pevtcd thn they would include the
western waters bordering on Asia ana
controlled by Russia and Japan, IN
which tho Commander lsldnus Htiu
makes am annual pilgrimage between
september and May. exactly similar 10
that of the Pribiiof herd i'm the waters
bordering on America. England op-
posed this extension. however and ever
sine, then pegalic sealers have wrought
havoc with the Asiatlc herd at all sea
sons of The year.
II Is possibly proper TO say that the
American members OF the commission.
headed by So accomplished n diplomat
as Hon John w. Foster were beaten
I'm diplomacy at Paris. At AL events, 1t
soon became evident that the regula-
tions of the Paris award were not suiii-
,iont 90 protect the hords All through
August seal dshing In Bering sea Itself
is permitted everywhere outside dis
tance off Go miles from the sral islands.
This 10 has been found. has brought
about great destruction ~ the cow
seals. since. as has. been learned, they
,annot lind sufficient food Within the 80
mile limit and often stray as fsr as 100
miles from the islands. where they fall
am easy prey
In tho circumstances the slaughter In
the Bcring sea would be great even II