Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 58 Part 1.djvu/121

 58 STAT.] 78TH CONG. , 2 D SESS.-CH. 65 -FEB. 26, 1944 SEC. 2. It shall be unlawful, except as hereinafter provided, for any citizen or national of the United States, or person owing duty of obedience to the laws or treaties of the United States, or any vessel of the United States, or person belonging to or on such vessel, to engage in pelagic sealing or sea otter hunting in or on the waters of the North Pacific Ocean; or for any person or vessel to engage in sealing; or for any person or vessel to use any port or harbor or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States for any purpose connected in any way with the operation of pelagic sealing, sea otter hunting, or sealing; or for any person to transport, import, offer for sale, or have in possession at any port, place, or on any vessel subject to the juris- diction of the United States, raw, dressed, or dyed skins of sea otters taken contrary to the provisions of this section or, where taken pur- suant to section 3 of this Act, not officially marked and certified as having been so taken, or raw, dressed, or dyed skins of fur seals taken in or on the waters of the North Pacific Ocean or on lands subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, except seal skins which have been taken under the authority of this Act or under the authority of the respective parties to any fur-seal agreement and which have been officially marked and certified as having been so taken. SEC. 3. Indians, Aleuts, or other aborigines dwelling on the Ameri- can coasts of the waters of the North Pacific Ocean shall be permitted to carry on pelagic sealing or sea otter hunting without the use of firearms from canoes or undecked boats, propelled wholly by paddles, oars, or sails, and not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, and manned by not more than five persons each, in the way heretofore practiced by said Indians, Aleuts, or other aborigines, and shall be permitted to dispose of the skins of fur seals or sea otters so taken as they see fit, but only after such skins have been officially marked and certified as provided in section 2 of this Act. The excep- tion made in this section shall not apply to Indians, Aleuts, or other aborigines in the employment of other persons or who shall engage in pelagic sealing or sea otter hunting under contract to deliver the skins to any person. SEC. 4. In order to continue the proper utilization of the fur-seal herd of the North Pacific Ocean and to carry out the purposes of this Act, the Secretary is authorized to permit sealing on the Pribilof and other islands and on the shores of waters subject to the jurisdic- tion of the United States, by officers and employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service designated by him and by the natives of the Terri- tory of Alaska, and to adopt suitable regulations governing the same whenever he shall determine that such sealing is necessary or desirable and not inconsistent with preservation of the fur seals of the North Pacific Ocean. The Secretary is also authorized to permit pelagic sealing in the event of emergency circumstances by officers, employees and agents of the United States and by the natives of the Territory of Alaska under such conditions and for such periods as may be agreed upon by consultation between the Government of the United States and the Government of Canada in accordance with the provi- sions of article II of the Provisional Fur Seal Agreement of 1942. SEC. 5. Subject to the provisions of sections 3 and 15 of this Act, all seal or sea-otter skins taken under the authority conferred by this Act, or forfeited to the United States, and all sealskins delivered to the United States pursuant to the terms of any fur-seal agreement shall be sold under the direction of the Secretary in such market, at such times, and in such manner as he may deem most advantageous; and the proceeds of such sale shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States. 101 Unlawful acts. Use of ports, etc. Illegal traffic in skins. Aborigines. Permission for pe lagic sealing, etc. Disposition of skins. Persons excluded. Sealing on Pribllof Islands, etc. Pelagi sealing in emergency circum- stance. Post, p. 1380. Sale of skins.

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