REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 81 
ALASKA FISHERIES SERVICE. 
EXTENT OF THE ALASKA FISHERIES. 
In 1917 the fisheries of Alaska attained their highest development 
up to that time. The number of persons employed was 29,491, an in- 
crease of 5,497 over 1916. The capital invested was $54,937,549, an 
increase of $15,367,937. The value of the products as first placed 
on the markets was $51,466,980, an increase of $25,310,421. This 
marked advance in value, amounting to 96 per cent, was due partly 
to a larger catch and pack of important species, but mostly to an 
extraordinary increase of the market prices of canned salmon, rang- 
ing from 56 per cent for red salmon, 64 per cent for cohoes, 76 per 
cent for humpbacks, and 84 per cent for chums to 94 per cent for 
kings. The salmon industry continues to overshadow all other 
branches, and in 1917 surpassed all previous records as regards the 
quantity of products taken and the market value thereof. The aug- 
mented production was due in part to increased fishing and canning 
operations and in part to extremely heavy runs of fish in certain re- 
gions. The additional canneries numbered 18, including 3 which, 
while in existence in 1917, were not then devoted to salmon. South- 
eastern Alaska had a very heavy run of humpbacks, which gave an 
increased pack of more than 1,000,000 cases. In central Alaska there 
was a decline in the catch of both red and humpback salmon, but the 
Karluk and Alitak sections showed even larger runs of red salmon 
than in the exceptionally good year of 1916. Western Alaska had 
the largest catch of red salmon ever made there, aggregating more 
than 24,000,000 fish, or 2,500,000 in excess of the best previous year, 
1914. The total number of salmon taken in all Alaska in 1917 was 
slightly over 92,600,000, of which 44,875,000 were humpbacks and 
36,497,000 were reds. 
The 118 salmon canneries in operation packed 5,947,286 cases (of 
48 one-pound cans), valued at $46,304,090, an increase of more than 
1,000,000 cases over 1916. The other products of the salmon indus- 
try—namely, fresh, frozen, mild-cured, pickled, dry-salted, and 
smoked fish—had a value of $1,473,991. 
Ranking next to the salmon industry came the halibut fishery, with 
a catch valued at $1,120,226; the herring fishery, $767,729; the cod 
fishery, $744,976; and the whale fishery, $654,852, all of which were 
of greater value in 1917 than in the previous year. 
Detailed statistics of all branches of the Alaska fisheries have been 
gathered by the Bureau and have been published, with discussion, in 
the annual report of the Alaska service. 
TAX ON SALMON CANNED IN ALASKA, 
The act of June 26, 1906, for the protection and regulation of the 
fisheries of Alaska, provides that packers of canned salmon shall 
pay a license tax on their output at a rate per case depending on the 
species packed. Salmon in Alaska is packed in cases containing 48 
1-pound cans, 48 half-pound cans, or 96 half-pound cans. The 
bulk of the salmon is packed in 1-pound cans, 48 to the case. The 
Bureau of Fisheries has always assumed that a case of salmon for 
