Chapter 3. Prohibiting the killing of fur seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean
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CHAP. 3.— An Act Prohibiting the killing of fur seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean. December 29, 1897. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * Fur seals.Killing, etc., in waters of North Pacific Ocean forbidden. That no citizen of the United States, nor person owing 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 hunt, at any time or in any manner whatever, any fur seal in the waters of the Pacific Ocean north of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude and including Bering Sea and the sea of Okhotsk.
Sec. 2. Equipments, etc., of vessels. That no citizen of the United States, nor person above described in section one, shall equip, use, or employ, or furnish aid in equipping, using, or employing, or furnish supplies to any vessel used or employed, or to be used or employed in carrying on or taking part in said killing, capturing, or hunting of fur seals in said waters, nor shall any vessel of the United States be so used or employed. Sec. 3. Penalty. That every person guilty of a violation of the provisions of this Act, or of any regulations made thereunder, shall, for each offense, be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and every vessel, its 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.
FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Chs. 3–5. 1897, 1898. 227 Sec. 4. That if any vessel of the United States shall be found withinPresumption of violation of act. the waters to which this Act applies, having on board fur-seal skins or bodies of seals, or apparatus or implements suitable for killing or taking seals, it shall be presumed that such vessel was used or employed in the killing of said seals, or that said apparatus or implements were used in violation of this Act until the contrary is proved to the satisfaction of the court.
Sec. 5. That any violation of this Act or of the regulations thereunderJurisdiction of courts. 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. 6. That this Act shall not interfere with the privileges accordedRight of Indians to fish not affected.Vol. 28, p. 54. to Indians dwelling on the coast of the United States under section six of the Act of April sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, but the limitations prescribed in said Act shall remain in full force.
Sec. 7. That this Act shall not affect in anyway the killing or takingPribilof Islands.[R. S., sec. 1959, p. 344](/us/rs/s1959/p344), etc. of fur seals upon the Pribilof Islands, or the laws of the United States relating thereto. Sec. 8. That any officer of the Naval or Revenue-Cutter Service ofSearching of suspected vessels. the United States, and any other officers duly designated by the President, may search any vessel of the United States in port or on the high seas suspected of having violated or of having an intention to violate the provisions of this Act, and may seize such vessel and the offending officers and crew and bring them into the most accessible port of the States and Territory mentioned in section five of this Act for trial.
Sec. 9. That the importation into the United States by any personProhibition of importation of fur-seal skins, etc. whatsoever of fur-seal skins taken in the waters mentioned in this Act, whether raw, dressed, dyed, or manufactured, is hereby prohibited, and all such articles imported after this Act shall take effect shall, not be permitted to be exported, but shall be seized and destroyed by the proper officers of the United States. Sec. 10. That the President shall have power to make all necessary regulations to carry this Act into effect.
Approved, December 29, 1897.