150 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Byrropucts 
In southeast Alaska one plant was engaged in the manufacture of 
salmon meal and oil, its operations being on virtually the same scale 
as in the previous year. A salmon cannery on Larsen Bay, in the 
central district, again produced a limited quantity of salmon by- 
products in connection with its canning operations. Employees 
credited to the industry numbered 24 white shoresmen and 2 white 
transporters. 
Products in 1939 consisted of 1,704,715 pounds of meal, valued at 
$35,184, and 68,715 gallons of oil, valued at $21,682, as compared with 
2,074,000 pounds of meal, valued at $31,413, and 67,988 gallons of oil, 
valued at $15,757, in 1938—a decrease of about 18 percent in the out- 
put of meal and an increase of 1 percent in the output of oil. 
HERRING 
Although the output of Seotch-cured herring increased somewhat 
from that of the previous year, the bulk of the herring catch again 
went into the manufacture of meal and oil. In southeastern Alaska 
no salteries were operated, and the only herring products other than 
those of the reduction plants were bait for the halibut fishermen and 
a small quantity used for feed on fur farms. All the other important 
producing centers showed some gain over the previous year in the 
amount of cured herring, the chief increase being in the Kodiak area. 
Nearly 45 percent of the total output of Scotch-cured herring for the 
season came from that area, 33 percent from Prince William Sound, 
and 22 percent from western Alaska. Each of these areas also pro- 
duced limited quantities of other cured herring, principally bloater 
stock. Operators on Cook Inlet prepared 18,300 pounds of pickled 
herring, most of which was Norwegian cured. 
A further shift of operations from southeastern to central Alaska 
was noticeable. In the former district only 4 herring reduction plants 
were operated, the fewest since 1922, while in the central district the 
number rose to 12, or 2 more than had ever before been engaged in the 
industry there. Of these 2 additional plants, 1 was operated by the 
Northwestern Herring Co. on Drier Bay, in the Prince William Sound 
area, and the other was operated by the Chatham Strait Fish Co. on 
Zachar Bay, in the Kodiak area. Both these companies had formerly 
owned herring plants in southeastern Alaska. Their operations in the 
central district were carried on in buildings which had at one time been 
used as salmon canneries. In all, 7 plants on Prince William Sound. 
and 5 in the Kodiak area were engaged in the manufacture of herring 
meal and oil. 
In view of the proposed expansion of herring-reduction operations 
in the Kodiak and Prince William Sound areas, and in order to prevent 
a repetition there of the disastrous results of overfishing which had 
occurred in the Cook Inlet area and in parts of southeastern Alaska, 
the Department announced under date of March 24, 1939, that any 
such expansion which might threaten depletion of the herring resources 
would necessitate further restriction on fishing. Upon the basis of the 
average catches in recent years, production limits of 200,000 barrels 
of herring for the Kodiak area and 350,000 barrels for the Prince 
William Sound area were tentatively established. 
As the season advanced, however, it became apparent that the 
herring stocks in these two areas were well above the average, and 
