Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1926, Volume II

711.417/752

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affair (Johnson)¹⁸

undated

The Japanese Ambassador saw Mr. Grew, the Under Secretary of State, on July 20, 1926 and in a conversation referred to the Japanese Embassy’s note of January 5, 1926, which set forth the desire of the Japanese Government that a conference should be held, as contemplated in Article 16 of the Convention for the Protection of Fur Seals, for the purpose of considering and, if possible, agreeing upon a further extension of that Convention with such modifications and additions as might be desirable. The Ambassador referred to the fact that in March the Japanese Government had proposed to the Government of the United States that, in view of the fact that recognition had as yet not been accorded to the Government of Soviet Russia by the Government of the United States, this obstacle to a conference of the nations party to the Fur Seal Convention of 1911 might be overcome by a preliminary conference of experts of the signatory powers on the understanding that, so far as the United States was concerned, it might treat the Soviet expert as an observer, while, so far as Soviet Russia was concerned, it might treat the expert of the United States as an observer. The Ambassador referred to the fact that the United States Government found itself unable to agree to this proposal but, desiring to do all things possible to meet the necessities of the situation as they revealed themselves to the Japanese Government, expressed a desire to know the terms of modification sought by the Japanese Government, in order that consideration might be given to them if happily some means short of a conference might be found to meet the wishes of the Japanese Government.

The Japanese Ambassador stated that he had communicated these views of the Government of the United States to his Government and stated that he had been instructed again to approach the Government of the United States with a request that the latter reconsider its position in this matter to the end that it might see its way clear to acquiesce in the proposal of the Japanese Government to conclude similar treaties separately among the United States, England and Japan on the one hand and among England, Soviet Russia and Japan on the other.

The Government of the United States has not failed again to give most careful consideration to the proposal of the Government of Japan to substitute two treaties for the present single convention for the preservation of fur seals but it still finds it difficult to persuade itself that the unity of interest and of obligation, served and established by the Convention of 1911, can be served by two treaties which will divide the parties whose interests are the same.

The Government of the United States, however, being most anxious to find some means short of a conference that must be fruitless, whereby the desires of the Japanese Government may be met, has, with the assistance of the appropriate authorities, most carefully and with good will studied the suggested changes in the present Convention which the Japanese Government has intimated should be made. Note is made of the statement that the object of the Convention providing for the preservation and protection of fur seals has been fully realized as the number of seals, which was estimated at about 140,000 on the occasion of the conclusion of the existing Convention, has increased to about 840,000. There is no question that the Convention of 1911 has been most effective in fulfilling its purpose at least insofar as concerns the seal herd which resorts to the Pribilof Islands for breeding purposes, the purpose of the Convention being, as set forth in its preamble, to provide “for the preservation and protection of the fur seals which frequent the waters of the North Pacific Ocean”. The obvious effectiveness of the Convention appears to justify the conviction of the Government of the United States that the continued preservation and protection of fur seals, as a commercial proposition, which frequent the waters of the North Pacific, depends entirely upon the continuance of the prohibition of pelagic sealing. The Japanese Government will recall that at the conference which was held in Washington in the summer of 1911 and which resulted in the convention now under discussion, the United States Government stated that its position had always been that pelagic sealing was an unscientific and wasteful method of hunting which would inevitably result in the ultimate extermination of the seal herds. The soundness of this position has been more than demonstrated by the results achieved under the present convention and the Government of the United States is convinced that these results will be lost if pelagic sealing is allowed to be resumed, as suggested by the Government of Japan, even under restrictions.

When the question of the fur seal convention was discussed by the Under Secretary of State with the Counselor of the Japanese Embassy on March 1, 1926, the former referred to the statement made orally some time before by the Japanese Ambassador to the effect that the large number of seals frequenting Japanese waters was having dire effect upon the Japanese fishing industry. At that time the Under Secretary of State suggested that the situation complained of might be remedied by an adjustment of land killings on Robben Island. The Japanese Ambassador on July 20, referred to this suggestion and stated that it might be impossible to attain the ends desired by the Japanese Government with increased killing on Robben Island unless the United States Government would be willing to augment considerably the number of land killings on the Pribilof Islands as the Japanese authorities estimated that some 370,000 fur seals out of 400,000 resorting to the Japanese coast belong to the herds of the Pribilof Islands. The statement that seals belonging to the Pribilof Islands herds resort to Japanese waters presents an aspect of the question of the migratory habits of the fur seals of the North Pacific new to the authorities of the United States and has naturally been the subject of special and most careful consideration on the part of those authorities to whom the matters mentioned by the Japanese Ambassador were referred. The Department of State is now informed by those authorities that they find this statement regarding migratory habits of the Pribilof Islands herds as wholly at variance with accepted scientific views on the subject. The attention of the Department of State has been called to the fact that the fur seals resorting for breeding purposes to the Pribilof Islands, the Commander Islands and Robben Island, respectively, have been classified scientifically as different species. The seals resorting to the Pribilof Islands belong to the species Callorhinus alascanus; those resorting to the Commander Islands to the species Callorhinus ursinus; and those to Robben Island to the species Callorhinus kurilensis. The existence of these three different species is recognized by Article 3 of the Convention of 1911. It is understood that seals belonging to any one of these species do not resort to any of the islands to which the seals of either of the other two species resort, that the different species do not intermingle at sea, and that the seals of the Pribilof Islands have their migration routes along the west coast of North America and do not frequent Japanese waters at all. The evidence shows that the fur seals of the Pribilof Islands leave the island late in the fall to spend the winter in open ocean, and that as the mating season approaches, the herds come nearer to the coasts which they follow in their northward movement toward the breeding grounds on the island. The Pribilof seals, having a longer way to travel, arrive off the coast of California as early as December and January. From then on their movements along the west coast of North America to Alaska can be followed from month to month till the breeding seals land in the Pribilofs in May and June. The northward movement thus consumes about five months from the time of the first appearance off California. It is understood that the Commander Island seals apparently do not arrive off the Japanese coast quite so early, but from February and March their movements toward Bering and Copper Islands parallel those of the American seals. In this connection emphasis is to be laid upon the fact that a large portion of the immature seals do not go to the islands at all, but remain in the open ocean throughout the summer. Such pelagic seals have been observed north of latitude 42° north during June and July, as far east as longitude 175° west, and as far west as longitude 150° west, but there is no reason to believe that these scattered summer bands do not eventually join their parent stocks to the west or the east, as the case may be. The Department of State is informed that it is well known that two years old seals do not reach the Pribilof Islands until some time in July and the yearlings not till August. The bulk of the seals do not leave the islands until November, and many bachelors and bulls remain later. The older males, in fact, at no time wander very far south. The females and younger males, on the other hand, travel as far south as latitude 35° north to reappear off California in December and January. It will thus be seen that the south migration requires only one or two months, the northward movement four to five. It would thus appear to be very improbable that any part of the Pribilof Islands herd could make the journey to Japan, stay there long enough for any purpose and be back in waters adjacent to the California coast in the short space of time that elapses between the time when they leave the islands and the time when they arrive off the coast of California to begin their annual northward journey. The Department of State is furthermore informed that there is nothing on record to indicate that the Pribilof Islands herd divides, one part going to Japan, the other directly to California. There is nothing to show that there is more than one main approach to the coast; besides the bulk of each class of seals arrives at the islands practically at the same time without any indication of two instalments. Attention has been given the question of the feeding habits of the seals and the Department of State is informed of two facts in this connection; first, that the seals are surface feeders; second, that their migrations are not correlated with the migrations of the commercially valuable salmonid fishes of the American coast. Authoritative investigations indicate that the seals feed almost exclusively on squids, pollock and the so-called seal fish, all surface fishes. That the valuable salmonids are not habitually pursued by the seals is amply proved by the fact that on Bering Island, the main rookery is located within seven miles of the main salmon river without any damage being done to the latter.

The above facts indicate why the authorities of the United States consider that it is very unlikely that the fur seals of the Pribilof Islands either visit Japanese waters or are destructive to commercially valuable fish. In view of the very evident and marked difference between the views entertained by the authorities of the two countries with regard to these important question[s], the Government of the United States is prepared to co-operate with the Japanese Government in an investigation into the migration, feeding habits and other pertinent facts relating to fur seals of the North Pacific, more especially those of the Pribilof Island herds. Such an investigation made jointly by the scientists of the two countries would enable the two countries to determine what steps, if any, were necessary to correct conditions complained of by the Japanese Government.

Consideration has been given to the suggestion of the Japanese Government that it may be necessary to strike out altogether Article 11 of the present Convention and to modify at the same time the terms of Article 10 conformably to the changed circumstances, with a view to obtaining an agreement of the United States Government to increase land killing on the Pribilof Islands. Article 11 of the Convention consists of three paragraphs; the first paragraph having been executed has no direct bearing upon matters of the present or the future. The second paragraph guarantees that the British and Japanese shares, respectively, of the seal skins taken from the American herd under the terms of the Convention “shall be not less than 1,000 each in any year, even if such number is more than 15 per cent of the number to which the authorized killing is restricted in such year, unless the killing of seals in such year or years shall have been absolutely prohibited by the United States for all purposes except to supply food, clothing and boat skins for the natives on the islands, in which case the United States agrees to pay to Great Britain and to Japan each the sum of $10,000 annually in lieu of any share of skins during the years when no killing is allowed”. The provisions of this paragraph would seem to be favorable rather than otherwise to Japan and it is therefore not understood why it should be taken out of the Convention. In regard to paragraph 3, which stipulates that if the total number of seals frequenting the Pribilof Islands in any year falls below 100,000, all killings except the supply necessary for the support of the natives may be suspended without allowance of skins or payment of money equivalent until the number of such seals again exceeds 100,000, the provisions of this paragraph have application only in the event that the Pribilof Islands herd falls below 100,000 animals, a very remote contingency under present conditions. It is the view of the Government of the United States that if such a contingency should unhappily come about, there should be no reason why the United States Government should pay revenue from the Pribilof Islands herd either to Japan or to Great Britain when the Government of the United States is receiving no revenue itself.

With reference to the question of modifying Article 10 of the Convention with a view to securing the agreement of the United States to the increased land killing on the Pribilof Islands, the Department of State is informed that there are now being killed each year at those islands all the male seals that are not required for breeding purposes. It is stated that to extend the killings to males which should be spared for breeding purposes would retard or stop altogether the natural increase in the herd or actually result in a reduction of the herd from its present size, according to the extent that increased killings were made. To kill more than surplus males would bring about a wastage of female life, unless females were to be included in the killings in order to maintain an equilibrium between the sexes. It is pointed out that in each of the years 1924, 1925 and 1926 the number of seal skins taken has been substantially in excess of the number taken in the preceding year.

N[elson] T. J[ohnson]

18. This undated memorandum was handed to the Japanese Ambassador by the Under Secretary of State on Nov. 29, 1926.