ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 87 
Later in the summer, however, Senator Reynolds proceeded to Alaska, 
and called at St. Paul Island when the Coast Guard cutter Northland 
stopped there on July 28. 
Seton H. Thompson, Assistant Chief of the Division of Alaska Fish- 
eries, departed from Seattle aboard the Penguin on June 11 to study 
the fur-seal industry at the Pribilof Islands and to inspect the Bureau’s 
fisheries activities in other sections of Alaska. Following extensive 
observations at St. Paul Island, Mr. Thompson paid particular atten- 
tion to the fisheries of Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet, and Prince William 
Sound before returning to Seattle on August 14 aboard the Penguin. 
Harold B. Carr, Editor and Photographer of the Bureau, accom- 
panied Mr. Thompson to St. Paul Island to obtain official pictures of 
fur-sealing operations. He returned to Seattle with the Commis- 
sioner’s party aboard the Ingham. 
JAPANESE VESSELS IN BERING SEA 
In the spring of 1938 assurances were given by the Japanese Goy- 
ernment that it would suspend the official survey of salmon resources 
in the waters of Bristol Bay which it had begun 2 years previously, 
and that it would continue to suspend the issuance of licenses for 
vessels to fish for salmon in those waters. This disposition of the 
matter was arranged after prolonged diplomatic negotiations between 
the countries involved, inasmuch as the expansion of Japanese 
activities with respect to the salmon fishery had alarmed Bristol Bay 
packers, and strong protests had been made against the threatened 
encroachment on Alaska salmon fisheries. 
Only one Japanese crab cannery, the Toten Maru (2,951 tons), was 
operated in Bristol Bay in 1938. It was accompanied by 3 50-foot 
trawlers and 10 launches about 30 feet long, and left the district 
before the salmon runs began. Thus there was no interference with 
the salmon fishery in this region. 
The scouting ship Hakuho Maru, of the Department of Agriculture 
and Forestry, cruised in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands the latter 
part of May for the purpose of investigating the migration route of fur 
seals. The vessel was reported as having arrived at Atka from the 
westward on May 29 and departed for Japan on June 1, owing to 
engine trouble. 
FISHERY INDUSTRIES 
As in corresponding reports for previous years, the Territory of 
Alaska is here considered in the three coastal geographic sections 
generally recognized, as follows: (1) Southeast Alaska—embracing 
all that narrow strip of mainland and the numerous adjacent islands 
from Portland Canal northwestward to and including Yakutat Bay; 
(2) central Alaska—the region on the Pacific from Yakutat Bay west- 
ward, including Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, and the southern 
coast of Alaska Peninsula, to Unimak Pass; and (3) western Alaska— 
the north shore of the Alaska Peninsula, including the Aleutian Islands 
westward from Unimak Pass, Bristol Bay, and the Kuskokwim and 
Yukon Rivers. These divisions are solely for statistical purposes and 
do not coincide with areas established in departmental regulations. 
Detailed reports and statistical tables dealing with the various 
fishery industries are presented herewith, and there are also given the 
