Marine Resources Management— Thompson 283 



canned salmon. Few of the world's fisheries exceed this one in 

 productivity and value, and none has shown such remarkable 

 growth. The exploitation of this resource began in 1878, 11 

 years after the purchase of the Territory from Russia, when the 

 first salmon cannery was built at Klawock. There had been 

 some salting of salmon by both Russians and Americans before 

 that time, and, of course, salmon was a major item in the diet 

 of the Indians. Not until the spectacular development of the 

 canning industry, however, were any real inroads made on this 

 resource. Salmon canning operations were inconsequential 

 until about 1885, but after that there was a steady increase until 

 1918, when 135 plants packed about 6,600,000 cases, repre- 

 senting more than 100 million salmon. During this period of 

 rapid growth, operations were extended throughout even the 

 remote areas of the Territory, and all five species of salmon 

 were sought whereas initially only the more valuable red 

 salmon were taken. The production of 1918 has been exceeded 

 only six times, although there have been many technological 

 improvements both in fishing and canning methods. Nearly 

 every year since 1918 has seen this resource fully utilized, and 

 the average annual production of canned salmon has been 514 

 million cases. 



Fishing was virtually unrestricted in the early years of the 

 industry and bitter competition over control of the fish supplies 

 led to the use of stream barricades and other destructive 

 methods. The inevitable result was depletion of the runs where 

 these devices were used. This is not reflected in the total pro- 

 duction figures because output was maintained by utilization 

 of additional species and by expansion to new streams. Some 

 of the damage done in this period has not been entirely re- 

 paired even now. 



Although conservation measures were enacted as early as 

 1896, they were generally disregarded and adequate legislative 

 authority for the protection of the salmon fisheries did not 

 become effective until 1924, some time after full exploitation 

 had been realized. By this time a fund of biological informa- 

 tion had been accumulated on which to base regulatory con- 



