The Nome Nugget

INTERIOR DEPT.
Invites Proposals
For Processing
Alaska Sealskins

WASHINGTON (A) The Interior Department announced today it will receive proposals through Sept. 30 from persons and firms interested in providing services for the processing and selling of Alaska sealskins for the government.

The department issued an invitation for proposals and a prospectus which will be available to acquaint interested parties with the requirements and conditions.

Several months ago the department announced cancellation of the Alaska sealskin contract which had existed on a negotiated basis for 40 years with the Fouke Fur Co.

The department said the contract was canceled because the company moved its operations from St. Louis to Greenville, S.C., without giving prior notice and opportunity for consultation. The department also cited other reasons.

The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which manages the fur seal herd on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, said it expects the United States share of the harvest each year will be some 55,000 to 75,000 skins, from which the luxury fur known as Alaska fur seal is prepared.

Under terms of a treaty with Canada, Japan and Russia—70 percent of total harvest is retained by this country and 15 percent is delivered to each of the governments of Japan and Canada.

The estimated total harvest is expected to be about 90,000 animals annually, the bureau said.

The invitation for proposals says limited numbers of cured seal skins will be available for experimental processing. The skins will be provided on a loan basis and must be returned to the government, prior to Oct. 1 along with proposals which may form the basis for a negotiated contract.