The Cordova daily times., 1922-11-02
FUR SEALSARE ON INCREASE
 ON PRIBlLOFS


 Juneau Empire, descriptive of his recent tour of the North Pacific with Assistant Secretary Huston and his party on board the Mojave, Col. J. G. Steese gives an interesting account of the seal fisheries on the Pribilof Islands, which is reprinted herewith:
 The Boring Sea fur seal industry is being handled under an interna- tional agreement drawn up in 1911 and running for 15 years. Under this agreement, palagic sealing is absolutely forbidden. The seal herds are fully protected except for systematic killing on the rockeries during the hauling out period. Only surplus bachelor seals are killed. The skins are sold and the proceeds divided among the nations partici- pating. Last year about 25,000 seals were killed on the Priblof Islands; this year about 32,0O0 were taken. Last year about 10000 skins were sold at an average price of about $35. This year the sales so far have resulted in an average price of a little over $40.
 It is a remarkable fact that of all the islands in the Aleutian chain and in Boring Sea upon which the sum practically never shines, two small islands, St. Paul and St. George, known as the Pribilofs, are the only ones to which the seals resort. St. Mathew Island is just as isolated and has just as bad weather, but there has never been a seal reported upon it. Russian Seal Islands
 Some hundred and fifty miles be- yond Attu, the last of the Aleutian ] Islands, is a group of islands belong ing to Russia, known as the Con- 1 mander or Komandorski Islands. The two principal islands are Boring Island. upon which Vitus Bering landed and died after discovering All aska, and Copper Island. A good indication in Boring Sea, to which Il have referred above, is the fact that Bering started from Kamtchatka and sailed all through the Aleutlan l Islands and on northeastWard with out seeing one of them. The first land he sighted was nearly 2,O0O miles away, Cape St. Elias, on Kayak Island, near Katalla, and this was the discovery of Alaska Practically 1 the only Russian fur seals are found . on the Commander Islands, but whereas the American herds on the Pribilofs number over 500 0,00O, there | are now probably less than 10000 seals in the few remaining rockeries on the Russian Islands.
 Japanese Seal Islands Fur seals have practically disap- peared also from the Kuriles, the string of Japanese islands extending from Kamtchatcka down to Japan proper. a distance of about 800 miles, Most of the Japanese seal skins now 1 come from Robben Island, small l rocky island short distance south east of Saghalien. Our share last year of the Robben Island skins 1 amounted to exactly 55, indicating . that the herds have dwindled almost 1 to nothing.
 Fur Seal Treaty
 The fur seal question will come to the front again in few years when the question of renewing the treaty comes under discussion. To investl gate this question was one Of Sec l retarv Huston's important missions; Dr, l.. Stejneger of the National Mu- scum is the foremost authority on f,n seals in the world. He has been sent to the American, Russian and Japanese fur seals islands at inter- vals since 1882. Upon this trip he had with him Captain Lindquist, for 1 merly master of the supply ship Of 1 the Russian Fur Company operat- ing from Kamtchatka, whom Dr. Steineger. had met on Boring Island in 1883. Captain Lindquist speaks Russian fluently. During this sum- mer, Dr. stejneger and Captain Lind ouist were dropped off at Kayak while the rest of the party went to Fairbanks and back. After visiting the Pribilofs they were taken to the Commander Islands by the Algonquin 1 ,,,1,;1o +bo rast of the marty went to