British Columbian seal hunters less successful as years before according to the Dutch newspaper Nieuwsblad van het Noorden dated 20 December 1896

An item reported that the British Columbian fleet of seal hunters numbered 64 vessels. Two vessels were lost another three seized. The vessels were active in the Bering Sea and the Japanese waters and along the Japanese coasts. The catches were compared with 1894 40.000 skins and compared with 1895 around 20.000 skins less. The revenues barely covered the costs even with the highest prices.