The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, formally known as the Convention between the United States and Other Powers Providing for the Preservation and Protection of Fur Seals, was a treaty signed on July 7, 1911, designed to manage the commercial harvest of fur-bearing mammals (such as

Northern fur seal The northern fur seal (''Callorhinus ursinus'') is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily (Arctocephalinae) and the only living species in t ...

s and

sea otter The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the small ...

s) in the

Pribilof Islands The Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands; ale, Amiq, russian: Острова Прибылова, Ostrova Pribylova) are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of ...

of the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

. The treaty, signed by the United States,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

(also representing Canada),

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, outlawed open-water

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in ten countries: United States (above the Arctic Circle in Alaska), Canada, Namibia, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Ice ...

and acknowledged the United States' jurisdiction in managing the on-shore hunting of seals for commercial purposes. It was the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.

Terms of the treaty

The two most significant terms of the treaty were the banning of

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

seal hunting and the granting of jurisdiction to the United States in managing on-shore hunts.Bailey (1935), p. 13. In exchange for granting jurisdiction to the United States, the other signatories to the treaty were guaranteed payments and/or minimum takes of seal furs while the treaty remained in effect, subject to certain conditions. The treaty also provided an exemption to aboriginal tribes which hunted seals using traditional methods and for non-commercial purposes including food and shelter. Aboriginal tribes specifically mentioned in the treaty include the

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

and Aino (Ainu) peoples.

Authorship and ratification

The treaty was co-authored by environmentalist

Henry Wood Elliott Henry Wood Elliott (November 13, 1846 – May 25, 1930) was an American watercolor painter, author, and environmentalist whose work primarily focused on Alaskan subjects. He was the author of the 1911 Hay-Elliott Fur Seal Treaty, the first inter ...

and United States Secretary of State

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was Un ...

in 1905, although the treaty was not signed for another six years. The treaty was signed at Washington, on July 7, 1911, with ratifications by each signatory on the following dates: *United States: Ratification advised by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on July 24, 1911, and ratified by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

on November 24, 1911 *Great Britain: August 25, 1911 *Russia: October 22 / November 4, 1911 *Japan: November 6, 1911 Ratifications were then exchanged at Washington on December 12, 1911, and the treaty was proclaimed two days later on December 14.

Enactment and legacy

Following ratification, the U.S. Congress enacted an immediate five-year moratorium on hunting, to allow for recovery of the decimated herds. The treaty remained in effect until hostilities erupted among the signatories in World War II. However, the treaty set precedent for future national and international laws and treaties, including the

Fur Seal Act of 1966 Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...

and the

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management. Authority MMPA was signed into law on October 21, 1972, by President Richard Nixon ...

. On the 100th anniversary of the treaty in 2011, the Pribilof Fur Seal Monument was erected.

References

External links

as provided by the Edwin Ginn Library at

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in its ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

{{United States environmental law 1911 in the environment Treaties entered into force in 1911 Treaties concluded in 1911 Treaties of the Empire of Japan Treaties of the Russian Empire Treaties of the United States 1911 in Japan 1911 in the Russian Empire 1911 in the United States Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) Treaties extended to Canada Treaties extended to the Territory of Alaska 1911 in Washington, D.C. Seal conservation

Terms of the treaty

Authorship and ratification

Enactment and legacy

References

Further reading

External links