38 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



A detailed account of the extent and condition of the Ahiska 

 fisheries in 1922 and of the activities of the bureau under the laws 

 and regulations for the protection of the fisheries is embodied in the 

 annual report of the Alaska service for that year.^ 



ENFORCEMENT OF FISHERY LAWS AND REGULATIONS. 



Primarily for the purpose of enforcing the fishery laws and regu- 

 lations, the bureau in 1922 operated 8 of its own vessels in Alaskan 

 waters, and in addition 22 small boats were chartered for varying 

 periods and 6 launches, maintained on Bristol Bay chiefly for the 

 destruction of predatory fish, were used for patrol service during 

 the fishing season. On account of shortage of funds the force of 

 temporary stream giiards, of which there were 60 in 1922, will neces- 

 sarily be employed for a shorter period in the season of 1923. The 

 total force aggregates 19 statutory employees, 25 men on vessels, and 

 69 stream guards and temporary assistants. 



A number of prosecutions were made for violations of the fishery 

 laws and regulations in 1922, the majority being for fishing in streams 

 or within the prohibited distances of the mouths of streams. In the 

 cases disposed of fines and costs amounted to about $2,500, with two 

 jail sentences of 30 days and one of 20 days. A few cases had not 

 been brought to trial at the end of the year. The stationing of 

 stream guards at the mouths of many salmon streams operated, 

 without doubt, as a deterrent to unlawful fishing in protected waters 

 and thus aided materially in conserving the runs of salmon. 



Markers were erected at the mouths of a number of streams that 

 heretofore had been unmarked, and those destroyed or defaced were 

 replaced. Some work was also done to clear streams of obstruc- 

 tions and render them more easily accessible to spawning salmon. 

 Investigations were made and results reported to the Federal Power 

 Commission in regard to the effect proposed power projects on 

 certain streams would have on the runs of salmon. 



PRIVATE SALMON HATCHERIES. 



In 1923 two private salmon hatcheries were operated in Alaska 

 as authorized by law. The hatchery of the Alaska Packers Associa- 

 tion on Naha Stream liberated 16,985,000 red salmon fry in the 

 fiscal year 1923, and that of the Northwestern Fisheries Co., located 

 on Hugh Smith Lake, liberated 6,007,000 red salmon fry in the 

 same period. The total rebate of taxes on canned salmon, at the 

 rate of 40 cents per 1,000 frv released bv these hatcheries, amounted 

 to $9,196.80. 



Representatives of the Washington State Fish Commission made 

 collections of humpback-salmon eggs in Prince William Sound in 

 the season of 1922. Very heavy losses occurred during the early 

 stages of the work, and on request of the bureau the collecting of 

 eggs was discontinued. The eggs on hand were eyed, and shipments 

 made in October totaled 14,571,708 eyed humpback-salmon eggs. 



1 Alaska Fishery and Fur-Seal Industries, in 1922. By Ward T. Bower. (Bureau of 

 Fisheries Document No. 951.) 



