Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-12-04
PROTECTION OF SEALS.
History of This Problem and Present
Status.

ElIStOry OF ms PTODiem ana freSenl
Status.
The destruction of the Pribilof is
land fur seals by pelagic sealing still
continues. The herd which, according
to the surveys made in 1874 by direc-
| ton of the congress, numbered 4.T0O,-
900 and which, according to the sur
vey of both American and Canadian
commissioners III 1891. amounted TO
100000 has now been reduced to
about 10000 This result has been
brought about by Canadian and some
other sealing vessels killing the female
seals while in the water during their
| annual pilgrimage to and from the
south or in search of food. AS a rule.
the female seal when killed is preg
nant and also has an unveaned pup on
land, so that for each skin taken by
| pelagic sealing, as 4 rule, three lives
are deStroyed-the mother the unborn
offspring and the nursing pup, which is
left to starve to death. No damage
whatever is done to the herd by the
carefully regulated killing on land.
The custom of pelagic scaling is solely
responsible for all of the present evil
and is alike indefensible from the eco
nomic standpoint and from the stand
point of humanity.
In 1896 over 10000 young seals were
found dead from starvation on the
Pribilof islands. In 1897 it was esti-
mated that since peIagic sealing began
upward of 100000 adult female seals
had been killed at sea and over 100000
young seals had died of starvation as
= Ta Tho l,a rib ,-it %
such Il practice, as well as the waste
full destruction which it involves,
needs no demonstration and is its own
condemnation. The Bering sea tribu-
nal, which sat in Paris in 1893 and
which decided against the claims of
the United States to exclusive juris-
dictiOn in the waters of Boring sea
and to property right in the fur seals
when outside of the three mile limit,
determined also upon certain regula-
tons which the tribunal considered
sufficient for the proper protection and
preservation of the fur seal in or
habitually reSorting to the Bering sea.
The tribunal by its regulations estab-
lished close season. from the 1st of
May to the 31st of July. and excluded
all killing in the waters within sixty
miles around the Pribilof islands
They also provided that the regula-
tons which they had determined upon.
with view to the protection and pres
ervation of the seals, should be sub
mitted every five years to new exami-
nation. so as to enable both interested
governments to consider whether in
the light of past experience there was
occasion for any modification thereof |
The regulations have proved plainly
inadequate 10 accomplish the object of
protection and preservation of the fur !
seals, and for long time this govern
ment has been trying in vain to secure !
from Great Britain such revision and
modification of the regulations as were |
and provided for by the |
award of the tribunal of Paris.
The process of destruction has been )
during recent years by the
appearance of n number of Japanese
vessels engaged in pelagic sealing As
these vessels have not been bound ,
even by the inadequate limitations pre-
scribed by the tribunal of Paris, they
have paid no attention either to the
close season or to the sixty mile limit
prosecuted their work up to the very
Islands themselves. On July IS and II
the crews from several Japanese YES
sells made raids upon the island of ST '
Paul, and before they We're beaten off
by the very meager and insufficiently
armed guard they succeeded in killing
several hundred seals and carrying off
the skins of most of them. Nearly all
the seals killed were females, and the
work was done with frightful barbar-
ty- Many of the seals appear te have
been skinned alive, and many were
found half skinned and still alive. The
raids were repealed only by the use of
irearms. and five of the raiders were
killed. two were wounded and twelve
,aptured. including the two wounded
Those captured have since been tried
md sentenced 10 Imprisonment An
lttack OF this kind had been wholly
unlocked for, but such provision of