THE NEWFOUNDLAND SEAL FISHERY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 147, 23 June 1877, Page 4

THE NEWFOUNDLAND SEAL FISHERY.

(Halifax Chronicle.)

St. John's, Newfoundland, is in a state of wild excitement and unbounded' delight at the great __ceeis which has attended the seal fiahdr^ t^e spring. t]^e l a.n.iyi»Jßj^_ ported, the whole city must be flooded with seal oil and covered with sealskins, botb.of whic!^ commodities, of course,, will; be exported > with '.g^eajh celprityiitheiatter mainly to: England, the number of sealskins ' exported thither yearly bejng gbqi^hiflf a millioa. Whether any seals will be, left , for r. fishermen in future years to kill may well -■ be asked, considering the tbocsands • that have fallen victims to the crews of^ the steamers engaged in tbe fishery. This season these vessels' have had a peirfect run of luck^and^he sailing ships appear to be equally fortunate. -J^joney is made rapidly, in, their ventures, and -qot unlrequently killing seals pays better thab "panning out 1 " on a rich"* placer." Tb_ ; dqnsequeji_e is tbAt. sealing steamers, nevar XvAuV crews, the system of giviog one-third 1 of the proceeds to the men and twenty cer^ts, per seal So the captain, offering irrga_lsiible inducements to the seafaring papulation. Of course luck is not invariable; abipS sometimes come back as thgyj^eat-- empty;"- But this yea?, the,; whole fleet appears to' ha?e; done wonderfully well, the steamers, wbich naturally have the best chance, befog closely presaed by the sailing vessels, the latter being favored by the early season and the condition of ihe ice^ One steamer, the Neptune, owiied by' Job Brothers, and commanded by the Hon. E. White, has made an unprecedented catch. She' was away 26 doys, _hd returned crammed v fuil, with 42,000 fine seals; she could not have taken another on board, but had. she had room, says the captain, it would 1 have been easy for him to kill 110,000 more, Tbe value _pf _ the catgo^ is enormous, considering „0w Short _ tftne it 'took, to obtain it; each aeai ia wor tb sorife 3 dollars, the cargo, therefore, figures up' to the .aplejfdid total of 126,000 .dollars, a oapft^il Vetiirn for less than 'a month's work. Besides bringing in hia 42,000 seals, Captain W^ite. placed 3,000 on board another vessel, on condition Of receiving a thirU of thero, making an, 'additional suoijof 3,000 dollars, and he left 7000 " panned ";on the ice, and sent a sailing veseel for them. He happened to strike the) maiu body of the army of seals, an o^ye3 ; havoc amongst them. Tbe second most successful steamer was the Arctic, a Dundee veasel.which/caught 24,000 seals, worth 30,000 "dollars,, there being no less than 1,500 old hood seals, which fetch a higher pricathan; the Barp Variety, Had this ship not me| with an injury, she would have brought ; a full cargo of 50,000, and been far away ahead of every other sealer, past or present. The Greenland came, in first of the fleet with 27,000 seals; tba Kite brought in a full cargo, 16,000, and the Panther, 20,000. The Aurora, another Dundee ship, had caught 14,000 when last seen, and expected to make up her complement of 20,000.. Tbe Vanguard, at laut reports, bad 16,000; the Proteus, 18.D00; the Bear, Lion, and Woll, each 8,000 to 10,000, and were hard at work tilling pp to complete cargo. Only 4 steamers were reported as doing j poorly, and these, if they light upon the right spot, may have a chance of | filling up as fast as their luckier con- 'i\ sorts. The sailing vessels ,are also 1 staled to be doing well, their oatch varying from 6,000 to 9,000 seals a piece, or in other words, very nearly full cargoes, f " "

4* f H s, g^4 one can scarcely realise' the full meaoing of these' figures! ; Tbe vessels named wiil ( .h*ve landed in St. John's if those still fishing increase their reported catch even -but slightly, Lover . one million seals, -the; value being simply enormous and - r the gain made in a very short time. One cannot help wondering whether -tbe seals can stand this slaughtering proceed without becoming decimated and., frightened away from their haunts; J Sealers would probably aay that you cannot kill off all- the seals, aod tbat£ year after year they will appear iu lar^e •• patches " or herds, but experience has long since demonsiratedthe possibility of annihilating a fishery. For instance, whales used to be- taken in numbers in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and further south, but now whalers, have got to sail to the Arctic regions in quest of these mammalia. The sal- i mon, a fish that once abounded in our

steams, has disappeared from many of them and become so scarce that it is Veil worth tbe nation's while to spend money in propagating it artificially. So vigorous and destructive a war must tell upon tbe seal fishery, and wjbile the Newfoundland ships may be congratulated on their remarkable, success ihisiyear, a doubt may be felt as to tlfe wisdom of killing the goose witb golden eggs. But what is the use of talking when splendid cargoes, worth immense sums of money, are being 7 landed by excited crews, assisted by a • still nore excited shore population. ;