44 



TJEPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, 



During the calendar years 1917 and 1918 the Bureau, in coopera- 

 tion with the Washington-Alaska military cable and telegraph 

 system of the War Department, informally maintained for the benefit 

 of the fishermen of Alaska an intelligence service which covered the 

 towns of Ketchikan, Juneau, Petersburg, Wrangell, Sitka, Skagway, 

 Valdez, Seward, and Cordova. The information thus furnished 

 daily appears to have been of value, and the service met with approval 

 throughout Alaska. Bein^ desirous of extendino; this work and hav- 

 ing it receive official recognition from Congress, the Bureau submitted 

 an estimate for an appropriation of $600 for the establishment in 

 Alaska of a local fishery intelligence agency. The appropriation 

 was not made, the work was not authorized, and the Bureau was 

 criticized for the efforts already put forth. 



A comprehensive report on the fisheries of Alaska and the Bureau's 

 activities in relation thereto has been prepared by the chief agent 

 of the Alaska service and has been published as a public document 

 under the title "Alaska Fisheries and Fur Industries in 1918." 

 This report should be consulted by those who desire detailed informa- 

 tion. 



MAGNITUDE OF THE ALASJi^\N FISHERIES IN 1918. 



When the 1918 season closed, a new record was established in 

 the fisheries of Alaska, for every branch of the industry advanced 

 over the year which had previously shown the highest development, 

 namely, 1917. The following figures for 1918, with comparisons 

 for 1917, show the persons employed, the capital invested, and the 

 value of the product as prepared for market: 



Items. 



Persons employee 



Investment 



Value of output.. 



31,213 

 , 750, 789 

 , 154, 859 



29,491 

 34,937,549 

 ")1, 466, 980 



Increase of 



1918 over 



1917. 



1,722 



$18,813,240 



$7,677,879 



It is the salmon industry which gives to the fisheries of Alaska their 

 great importance, and it was the salmon industry that contributed 

 most notably to the increases that occurred in 1918. The value of all 

 salmon products was $53,514,812, of which $51,041,949 represented 

 canned fish to the number of 6,605,835 cases. Thus, 50 years after 

 Alaska became a part of our national domain, the salmon resources 

 alone yielded a product valued at over 7^ times the purchase price of 

 the territory. The 135 salmon canneries in operation were 17 more 

 than in 1917. The changes in apparatus of capture included an in- 

 crease in pound and trap nets and seines and a decrease in gill nets. 

 The relative importance of the different kinds of gear remained about 

 the same. Seines took 38 per cent of the salmon in southeast Alaska 

 and 39 per cent in central Alaska, but only 4 per cent in western 

 Alaska; pound trap nets are credited with 58 per cent, 48 per 

 cent, and 4 per cent in the respective regions; while gill nets, which 

 took only 2 per cent in southeast Alaska and 11 per cent in central 

 Alaska, took 90 per cent in western Alaska. 



The number of salmon taken for commercial use in Alaska in 1918 

 was 101,454,688, against 92,600,495 in 1917. The red salmon aggre- 



