Report on Fur Seal Operations and Administration of the Pribilof Islands, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior

The General Accounting Office has made a review of the fur seal operations and administration of the Pribilof Islands by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Department of the Interior. The review was made pursuant to the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (31 U.S.C. 53), and the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 67). Our review of the fur sealing operations conducted by the Bureau of Cowercia1 Fisheries, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, was performed at the Pribilof Islands in Alaska; the Bureau's offices in Seattle, Washington, and Washington, D.C.; and at the fur processor's plant in St. Louis, Missouri. The review was made ~ principally to identify and develop matters requiring improvement. We reviewed the Federal legislation and international agreements pertaining to the fur sealing operations conducted by the Bureau. We reviewed the Bureau's programs, organization, management, financing, and staffing for conduct of the sealing and related operations. We observed the killing of seals, curing of sealskins, and manufacture of by-products, and examined controls over sealskins. We reviewed to a limited extent the utilization of manpower and native welfare activities. We reviewed the supply and disbursing activities and tested related financial transactions to the extent we deemed necessary. We observed the operations of the fur processor, including the auction sale of fur sealskins, and we tested the inventory of sealskins in the possession of the processor and those stored in a bonded warehouse.