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Partly-printed DS as president, one page, 8 x 10, February 18, 1895. President Cleveland authorizes and directs "the Secretary of State to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to my proclamation warning all persons against entering the dominion of the United States in the waters of Bering Sea, for the purpose of violating the provisions of Section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States." Crisply signed at the conclusion in ink by President Grover Cleveland. In very fine condition.
The statute referred to begins: 'No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the waters thereof,' citing fines and prison times for those convicted of such violations. While the U.S. sought to employ a sustainable seal-harvesting method that was akin to the Russians, seal hunters from Great Britain and Ireland opposed and/or ignored these measures, which resulted in the United States Revenue Cutter Service, today known as the United States Coast Guard, capturing several Canadian sealer vessels in the 1880s. This led to The Bering Sea Arbitration of 1893 and, for a little while, a potential war between the United States and Great Britain was in the balance. Cleveland issued several proclamations throughout his presidency to address the conflict.
The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 did much to curtail the seal industry. Signed on July 7, 1911, the treaty was designed to manage the commercial harvest of fur-bearing mammals (such as Northern fur seals and sea otters) in the Pribilof Islands of the Bering Sea. The treaty, signed by the United States, Great Britain (also representing Canada), Japan, and Russia, outlawed open-water seal hunting 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.
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