Chapter 57. To give effect to the award rendered by the Tribunal of Arbitration, at Paris, under the treaty between the United States and Great Britain concluded at Washington, February twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, for the purpose of submitting to arbitration certain questions concerning the p
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CHAP. 57.— An Act To give effect to the award rendered by the Tribunal of Arbitration, at Paris, under the treaty between the United States and Great Britain concluded at Washington, February twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, for the purpose of submitting to arbitration certain questions concerning the preservation of the fur seals.April 6, 1894. Whereas the following articles of the award of the Tribunal of ArbitrationFurseal arbitration.Preamble. constituted under the treaty concluded at Washington the twenty-ninth of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Paris tribunal award.Vol. 27, p. 947.Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were delivered to the agents of the respective governments on the fifteenth day of August, eighteen hundred and ninety-three:
Article 1.Art. 1. The governments of the United States and Great Britain shall forbidKilling, etc., fur seals forbidden. their citizens and subjects respectively to kill, capture, or pursue at any time, and in any manner whatever, the animals commonly called fur seals, within a zone of sixty miles around the Pribilov Islands, inclusive of the territorial waters. The miles mentioned in the preceding paragraph are geographical miles, of sixty to a degree of latitude. Article 2.Art. 2.
The two governments shall forbid their citizens and subjects respectivelyClosed season for killing, etc., seals in Pacific Ocean. to kill, capture or pursue, in any manner whatever, during the season extending, each year, from the first of May to the thirty-first of July, both inclusive, the fur seals on the high sea, in the part of the Pacific Ocean, inclusive of the Bering Sea, which is situated to the north of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude, and eastward of the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich till it strikes the water boundary described in article one of the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven between the United States and Russia, and following that hue up to Berings Straits.
Article 3.Art. 3. During the period of time and in the waters in which the fur-seal Restriction of sealing to sailing vessels.fishing is allowed, only sailing vessels shall be permitted to carry on or take part in fur-seal fishing operations. They will however be at liberty to avail themselves of the use of such canoes or undecked boats, propelled by paddles, oars, or sails, as are in common use as fishing boats. Article 4.Art. 4. Each sailing vessel authorized to fish for fur seals must be providedLicense, etc. with a special license issued for that purpose by its Government, and shall be required to carry a distinguishing flag to be prescribed by its Government.
Article 5.Art 5. The masters of the vessels engaged in fur-seal fishing shall enterRecord of operations. accurately in their official log book the date and place of each fur-seal fishing operation, and also the number and sex of the seals captured upon each day. These entries shall be communicated by each of the two governments to the other at the end of each fishing season. Article 6.Art. 6. The use of nets, firearms and explosives shall be forbidden in the fur-sealUse of nets, etc., forbidden. fishing.
This restriction shall not apply to shotguns when such fishing takes place outside of Behring Sea, during the season when it may be lawfully carried on. 53 Article 7.Art. 7. The two governments shall take measures to control the fitness ofSkill of fishermen. the men authorized to engage in fur-seal fishing; these men shall have been proved fit to handle with sufficient skill the weapons by means of which this fishing may be carried on. Article 8.Art. 8. The regulations contained in the preceding articles shall not applyFishing by Indians. to Indians dwelling on the coast of the territory of the United States or of Great Britain, and carrying on fur-seal fishing in canoes or undecked boats not transported by or used in connection with other vessels and propelled wholly by paddles, oars or sails and manned by not more than five persons each in the way hitherto practiced by the Indians, provided such Indians are not in the employment of other persons and provided that, when so hunting in canoes or undecked boats, they shall not hunt fur seals outside of territorial waters under contract for the delivery of the skins to any person.
This exemption shall not be construed to affect the municipal law ofMunicipal laws not affected. either country, nor shall it extend to the waters of Behring Sea or the waters of the Aleutian Passes. Nothing herein contained is intended to interfere with the employmentEmployment of Indians. of Indians as hunters or otherwise in connection with fur sealing vessels as heretofore. Article 9.Art. 9. The concurrent regulations hereby determined with a view to theContinuance of regulations. protection and preservation of the fur seals, shall remain in force until they have been, in whole or in part, abolished or modified by common agreement between the governments of the United States and of Great Britain.
The said concurrent regulations shall be submitted every five yearsModifications. to a new examination, so as to enable both interested governments to consider whether, in the light of past experience, there is occasion for any modification thereof. *Now therefore, he it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That no citizenKilling, etc., of seals by United States citizens forbidden.*Post*, p. 1245. of the United States, or person owing the duty of obedience to the laws or the treaties of the United States, nor any person belonging to or on board of a vessel of the United States, shall kill, capture, or pursue, at any time, or in any manner whatever, outside of territorial waters, any fur seal in the waters surrounding the Pribilov IslandsProhibited area. within a zone of sixty geographical miles (sixty to a degree of latitude)*Post*, p. 64. around said islands, exclusive of the territorial waters.
Sec. 2. That no citizen of the United States, or person above describedKilling, etc., of seals from May 1 to July 31, in part of Pacific Ocean prohibited. in section one of this act, nor any person belonging to or on board of a vessel of the United States, shall kill, capture, or pursue, in any manner whatever, during the season extending from the first day of May to the thirty-first day of July, both inclusive, in each year, any fur seal on the high seas outside of the zone mentioned in section one, and in that part of the Pacific Ocean, including Behring Sea,Area affected. which is situated to the north of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude and to the east of the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich till it strikes the water boundary described in article one of the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, between the United States and .Russia, and following that line up to Behring Straits.
Sec. 3. No citizen of the United States or person above described,Sealing restricted to sailing vessels, etc. in the first section of this Act, shall, during the period and in the waters in which by section two of this Act the killing of fur seals is not prohibited, use or employ any vessel, nor shall any vessel of the United States be used or employed, in carrying on or taking part in fur-seal fishing operations, other than a sailing vessel propelled by sails 54 exclusively, and such canoes or undecked boats, propelled by paddles, oars, or sails as may belong to, and be used in connection with, such sailing vessel; nor shall any sailing vessel carry on or take part in such License and flag required.operations without a special license obtained from the Government for that purpose, and without carrying a distinctive flag prescribed by the Government for the same purpose.
Sec. 4. That every master of a vessel licensed under this act toOfficial log book to engagebe kept. in fur-seal fishing operations shall accurately enter in his official log book the date and place of every such operation, and also the number anti sex of the seals captured each day; and on coming into port, Verification.and before landing cargo, the master shall verify, on oath, such official log book as containing a full and true statement of the number and character of his fur-seal fishing operations, including the number and sex of seals captured; and for any false statement willfully made by a person so licensed by the United States in this behalf he shall be Penalty for perjury.subject to the penalties of perjury; and any seal skins found in excess of the statement in the official log book shall be forfeited to the United States.
Sec. 5. That no person or vessel engaging in fur-seal fishing operationsOperations prohibited. under this Act shall use or employ in any such operations, any net, *Proviso*.firearm, airgun, or explosive: *Provided however*, That this prohibition Not applicable to open Reason in Pacific Ocean.shall not apply to the use of shotguns in such operations outside of Behring Sea during the season when the killing of fur seals is not there prohibited by this Act. Sec. 6. That the foregoing sections of this act shall not apply toFishing by Indiana permitted.
Indians dwelling on the coast of the United States, and taking fur seals in canoes or undecked boats propelled wholly by paddles, oars, or sails, and not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, or manned by more than five persons, in the manner heretofore *Proviso*.practiced by the said Indians: *Provided, however*, That the exception made inContracts forbidden. this section shall not apply to Indians in the employment of other persons, or who shall kill, capture, or pursue fur seals outside of territorial waters under contract to deliver the skins to other persons, nor to the waters of Behring Sea or of the passes between the Aleutian Islands.
Sec. 7. That the President shall have power to make regulationsRegulations to be made by President. respecting the special license and the distinctive flag Mentioned in this Act and regulations otherwise suitable to secure the due execution of the provisions of this act, and from time to time to add to, modify, amend, or revoke such regulations, as in his judgment may seem expedient. Sec. 8. That, except in the ease of a master making a false statementPenalty for violations. under oath in violation of the provisions of the fourth section of this Act, every person guilty of a violation of the provisions of this Act, or of the regulations made thereunder, shall for each offense be fined not less than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, at any time used or employed in violation of this Act, or of the regulations made thereunder, shall be forfeited to the United States.
Sec. 9. That any violation of this Act, or of the regulations madeProsecution. thereunder, may be prosecuted either in the district court of Alaska or in any district court of the United States in California, Oregon, or Washington. Sec. 10. That if any unlicensed vessel of the United States shall bePrima facie evidence of violations by unlicensed vessels. found within the waters to which this Act applies, and at a. time when the killing of fur seals is by this Act there prohibited, having on board seal skins or bodies of seals, or apparatus or implements Licensed vessels.suitable for killing or taking seals; or if any licensed vessel shall be found in the waters to which this Act applies, having on, board apparatus or implements suitable for taking seals, but forbidden then and there to be used, it shall be presumed that the vessel in the one case and the apparatus or implements in the other was or were used in violation of this Act until it is otherwise sufficiently proved. 55 Sec. 11.
That it shall be the duty of the President to cause a sufficientNaval force. naval force to cruise in the waters to which this Act is applicable to enforce its provisions, and it shall be the duty of the commanding officer of any vessel belonging to the naval or revenue service of the United States, when so instructed by the President, to seize and arrestArrests by naval or revenue officers. all vessels of the United States found by him to be engaged, used, or employed in the waters last aforesaid in violation of any of the prohibitions of this Act, or of any regulations made thereunder, and to take the same, with all persons on board thereof, to the most convenient port in any district of the United States mentioned in this Act, there to be dealt with according to law.
Sec. 12. That any vessel or citizen of the United States, or personSeizure of United States vessels, etc., by British officials. described in the first section of this Act, offending against the prohibitions of this Act or the regulations thereunder, may be seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, but when so seized and detained they shall be delivered as soon as practicable, with any witnesses andDelivery to United States authorities. proofs on board, to any naval or revenue officer or other authorities of the United States, whose courts alone shall have, jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same:
Provided, however, That*Proviso*.Effective only when similar British legislation enacted. British officers shall arrest and detain vessels and persons as in this section specified only after, by appropriate legislation, Great Britain shall have, authorized officers of the United States duly commissioned and instructed by the President to that end to arrest, detain, and deliver to the authorities of Great Britain vessels and subjects of that Government offending against any statutes or regulations of Great Britain enacted or made to enforce the award of the treaty mentioned in the title of this Act.
Approved, April 6, 1894.