206 U. S. BTJREAU OF FISHERIES 



INTRODUCTION 



Tlie enforoenient of the l;nv for the pi-otectioii of the fisheries in 

 Alaska and the management of the fur-seal industry of the Pribilof 

 Islands constitute the chief activities of tlie Bureau of Fisheries in 

 Alaska. 



In the course of the year a number of supplementary regulations 

 were issued for the better protection of the fishery resources. These 

 included an extension of the Yukon-Kuskokwim area and the promul- 

 gation of herring regulations therein. Near the end of the year 

 the fishery regulations were comi)letely revised for the season of 

 1930, a noteworthy feature 'oeing fuither restrictions on the use of 

 traps. 



As in previous yeai's Commissioner O'M alley spent a number of 

 weeks in Alaska during the height of the fishing season, thereby mak- 

 ing possible prompt changes in the regulations whenever the con- 

 servation requirements made such action desirable. He also visited 

 the Pribilof Islands in the commercial scaling season. 



In the fisheries patrol work 14 power vessels belonging to the 

 bureau were utilized, and in addition 10 privately owned boats were 

 chartered for shoi't periods. Through the courtesy of the Bureau of 

 Public Roads one of its boats was also used for a brief period. A 

 feature connected with the patrol was the utilization of aircraft for 

 the first time. While the air patrol was limited to the use of a sea- 

 plane in southeastern Alaska and was largely experimental in char- 

 acter, it would seem that aircraft will have a definite i)lace in patrol 

 v\ork in the future. 



The work of improving salmon sti'eams was continued and the opera- 

 tions were very materially helped by a fund of $40,000 appropriated 

 b}^ the Alaska Legislature, which was made available for use in con- 

 nection with the bureau's activities. 



In 1929, 20 weirs were maintained at important salmon streams 

 in Alaska in order to ascertain the number of salmon ascending to 

 the spawning grounds. Their operation afl"ord*> a means of estab- 

 lishing the ratio of escape to catch, and of determining the size of 

 spawning colony necessary to prevent depletion of the run. Ex- 

 tensive observations were made of the condition of the salmon 

 spawning groimds throughout a large part of the Territory. Scien- 

 tific investigations of salmon, herring, and other acjuatic resources 

 were continued. 



Sealing operations on the Pribilof Islands in 1929 resulted in the 

 take of 4(),0()8 fur-seal skins — the largest number for any year since 

 1889. A computation as of August 1 0", 1929, showed a total of 971,527 

 animals in the herd, an increase of 100,014 over the figures for the 

 preceding yeai-. The care of the fox herds on both St. Paul and 

 St. George Islands was incidental to sealing activities. In the 

 season of 1929-30, 745 blue and 32 white fox pelts were taken. 



Construction work at the islands included the erection of houses 

 for natives and a number of buildings for the general purposes of the 

 sealing industry. Further progress was made in the extension of 

 impioved roads. 



A contract was enteied into for the construction of a new ])ower 

 vessel, the PeiKjuin, to replace the FJder as tender for the Pribilof 

 Islands, and tbe vessel was nearing comijletion a( the (>n(l of the year. 



