. Coast Guard history. United States. Coast Guard. Among the laws enforced by the Coast Guard in Alaska are those governing seal- ing. At the time of the Purchase m 1867, there were an estimated 5,000,000 seals. In the first three years of American rule, hunt- ing was unrestricted in the seal breeding grounds in the Pribilof Islands. In one season 250,000 were killed. In 1870, the Government set a limit of 100,000 male seals a year and leased the hunting rights in the islands as a monopoly to the Alaska Commercial Co. for 20 years. Slaughter on the sea Ships that hunted seals at sea, however,
. Coast Guard history. United States. Coast Guard. Among the laws enforced by the Coast Guard in Alaska are those governing seal- ing. At the time of the Purchase m 1867, there were an estimated 5,000,000 seals. In the first three years of American rule, hunt- ing was unrestricted in the seal breeding grounds in the Pribilof Islands. In one season 250,000 were killed. In 1870, the Government set a limit of 100,000 male seals a year and leased the hunting rights in the islands as a monopoly to the Alaska Commercial Co. for 20 years. Slaughter on the sea Ships that hunted seals at sea, however, had a free hand. They increased from 16 in 1880 to 3-i in 1886 and mo\ed into the Bering Sea. Because they took females and any seals they could get their harpoons into, there was a sharp falling off in the herd and the United States had to hmit island hunting to 2 3,000 a year. The problem of how to keep the seals from becoming extinct was not settled until the United States, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan agreed in 1911 to ban commercial sealing in the North Pacific and Bering Sea. For its part, the United States undertook to hunt seals in the Pribi- lofs and to prorate the proceeds from the sale of pelts among the four treaty powers. Enforcement of the ban on deep-sea seal- ing was assigned to the Coast Guard's Bering Sea Patrol. In 28 years, seals in- creased from 132,279 to 1,872,438, and the Treasury had 52,324,501 after paying the other nations their share of the fur profits. Japan abrogated the pact in 1941. Only the United States, Britain, and Russia enjoy its benefits today. And the Bering Sea Pa- trol continues to police not only the sealing treaty but subsequent agreements and laws covering halibut, whales, walruses, and alien fishermen. Eskimos arrive in an oomiak to keep a dental appointnnent aboard the cutter t .•^^ •-.•% .cM^^. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readabi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollecti, booksubjectunitedstatescoastguard
