ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 79 



Revised regulations effective in 1938 for the protection of the fisher- 

 ies of Alaska were issued by the Secretary of Commerce under date of 

 February 15, 1938, copies of which may be obtained, without cost, on 

 application to the Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C. 



ANNETTE ISLAND FISHERY RESERVE 



The Annette Island Canning Co. again operated the salmon cannery 

 at Metlakatla, under its lease from the Department of the Interior. 



Eight salmon traps were operated by the company, the total catch 

 of which numbered 1,561,077 salmon, and 71,414 salmon taken by 

 seines and gill nets in the waters of the reservation were purchased 

 from natives. In addition, 1,100,965 salmon were purchased from 

 independent operators of seines and traps outside the reserve. Of the 

 total number of fish obtained, 142,379 were sold to other canneries, 

 and the remainder were packed at the company's plant. In the opera- 

 tion of the cannery and fish traps, employment was given to 89 whites 

 and 333 natives. 



Profits to the Metlakatlan Indians of the reserve on the cannery 

 operations for 1936, imder the provisions of the lease, amounted to 

 $73,551.83. Preliminary estimates for the year 1937 place the figure 

 at about $111,700. 



STREAM IMPROVEMENT 



No special project of improving salmon streams was undertaken in 

 southeast Alaska in 1937, but stream watchmen, in connection with 

 their regular patrol duties, continued to clear out log jams and wind- 

 falls that impeded the ascent of salmon to the spawning beds. They 

 also cut trails along the banks of the streams to facilitate inspection 

 of the spawning grounds at the close of the season. 



Elsewhere in Alaska, also, stream-improvement work was limited, 

 for the most part being incidental to the patrol of the fishing grounds. 

 In the Cook Inlet district, however, considerable work was accom- 

 plished at Cottonwood Creek and Fish Creek, together with their 

 numerous tributary streams and lakes, through funds provided 

 jointly by the Territory and the salmon packers of the district. 

 These creek systems provide extensive spawning grounds for red 

 and coho salmon, but within the last 3 years they have become 

 infested with beaver dams, which in most cases constitute barriers to 

 salmon migrating to the spawning grounds, if not kept open during 

 the runs. Mr. George S. Hosier, a resident of Matanuska Valley for 

 many years, was employed from June 21 to August 15 to keep open 

 the various small streams connecting the lakes so that all spawning 

 grounds would be available for seeding. 



CONTROL OF PREDATORY TROUT 



The destruction of trout that feed upon salmon eggs and fry was 

 carried on, as heretofore, with funds allotted from appropriations by 

 the Territorial Legislature and matching contributions by salmon 

 packers of certain districts. The Territorial appropriation in 1937 

 for clearing streams and the destruction of predatory enemies of 

 salmon during the biennium ending March 31, 1939, was $25,000. 

 Most of this amount was allotted for control of predatory trout in the 

 Bristol Bay region, where the work has been conducted for a long 



