2 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Page. 



Alaska fur-seal service : 42 



General activities at the Pribilof Islands 42 



Seal herd 43 



Take of sealskins 43 



Sales of sealskins 44 



Foxes and reindeer 44 



Cooperation with other Government agencies 45 



Vessel service notes, 1923_ 45 



Appropriations 47 



Department of Commerce, 



Bureau or Fisheries, 

 Washing-ton, September 16, 1923. 

 Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith a report of the operations 

 of the Bureau of Fisheries during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1923. 



FISHERY INDUSTRIES SERVICES. 



REVIEW. 



The depression that existed in tlie fisliery industries in 1921 was 

 to a considerable extent relieved in 1922. as noted in my last report, 

 and decidedly better conditions prevailed in the fiscal year 1923. In 

 the New England vessel fisheries, in the calendar year 1922, 11.9 

 X)er cent fewer trips were made than in 1921, but the catch increased 

 (> per cent. Becau'^e of lower prices during part of the year there 

 was a net decrease of 4.5 per cent from 1921 in the value of the prod- 

 uct. In the spring of 1923, from January to May, inclusive, the 

 landings were steadily greater than for 1922, except that in March, 

 1922, abnormally large landings were recorded, which were greater 

 than the March, 1923, landings. In the first five months of 1923 the 

 average price of" fish landed from fishing vessels in New England 

 was 4.64 cents per pound, as com,pared with 3.42 cents for the same 

 period in 1922. At Seattle, in 1922, there was little change from the 

 preceding year in either landings or value. In California, in 1923, 

 there was an increase of 32.3 per cent in quantity over 1921, the pro- 

 duction being 168,969,733 pounds. 



In the Pacific Coast States the pack of canned salmon in 1922 

 showed a net decrease of 26.9 per cent in the number of cases and 6.5 

 per cent in value as compared with the pack of 1921 ; but this decrease 

 was more than made up in Alaska, where there was an increase of 

 72 per cent in the number of cases and 51.7 per cent in value as com- 

 pared with the previous year. The total pack of canned fisher}- prod- 

 ucts in the United States and Alaska in 1922 was valued at $()0,464,- 

 947, an increase of 29.6 per cent over 1921. The by-products of the 

 fisheries in 1922 were valued at $11,390,693, an increase of 36.4 per 

 cent over their value in 1921. 



Gratifying increases over the 1921 pack of sardines are recorded 

 for both Maine and California in 1922. In Maine the increase 

 amounted to 31.5 per cent in number of cases and 45.2 per cent in 

 value; in California the increase amounted to 75.4 per cent in nmn- 

 ber of cases and 51.7 per cent in value. In the total sardine pack of 

 both Maine and California there was an increase of 41.8 per cent in 

 number of cases and 44.4 per cent in value. 



