82 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



supplies to Bristol Bay in May, and then patrolled the Alaska Penin- 

 sula area until the 1st of August, when it returned the Bristol Bay 

 crew to Seattle. 



The Scoter patrolled the Bristol Bay area during June and July. 

 On August 5 it relieved the Crane in the Alaska Peninsula area, and 

 after the close of the fishing season there it was used in the Kodiak 

 area from about the middle of August to September 17. En route 

 south the Scoter assisted with the stream inspection on the west coast 

 of Prince of Wales Island before returning to Seattle. The Scoter 

 engaged in the fur-seal patrol off Cape Flattery, Wash., for about 2 

 weeks in the latter part of March and the first of April, during the 

 northward migration of the Alaska fur-seal herd. 



The Brant was used for the most part in general supervisory work, 

 maldng five round trips between Seattle and Alaska during the year. 

 Except for the cruise to the westward as far as Dutch Harbor in 

 July, with the Deputy Commissioner's party, the Branfs work in 

 Alaska was confined to the southeastern district. The vessel partici- 

 pated in the patrol and survey of spawning streams during the fall 

 season. 



As in the previous year, four speed boats were in operation, one 

 each on Bristol Bay, in Prince William Sound, in the Wrangell dis- 

 trict, and in the vicinity of Juneau. Nine other small power boats 

 also were in use, including a number of skiffs equipped with outboard 

 motors. Of these, four were used on Bristol Bay, two at Kodiak, 

 one on Cook Inlet, one m the Seward-Katalla district, and one on the 

 west coast of Prince of Wales Island. 



In addition to the foregoing, the Wingham was again chartered for 

 patrolling the Copper River flats and, at the close of activities there, 

 for use in the general patrol and examination of salmon streams in 

 Prince William Sound. A gas boat was chartered to patrol Uyak 

 Bay, in the Kodiak area, during the pink-salmon run. In the Alaska 

 Peninsula area the Alasco II was lent to the Bureau for several days 

 patrol of the region from Orzenoi to Pavlof Bay. A small power boat 

 was hired to patrol the Egegik district of Bristol Bay, the boat previ- 

 ously used there having been condemned and sold. 



AERIAL PATROL 



The Bureau's use of airplanes, chartered from commercial com- 

 panies for patrolhng the fishing grounds, was somewhat less extensive 

 in 1937 than in the previous year, but a number of violations of the 

 fishery laws and regulations were detected by this means. Aside from 

 the speed in making observations over large areas, perhaps the cliief 

 value of aircraft as an auxiUary to the vessel patrol is that it acts as a 

 deterrent to illegal operations, both because the fishermen do not know 

 which plane may be engaged in the air patrol and because they have 

 insufficient time to adjust their apparatus at the approach of an in- 

 vestigator. 



The aerial patrol in 1937 was carried on in Bristol Bay, in Prince 

 WilHam Sound, and in the Juneau and Ketchikan districts of south- 

 east Alaska, chiefly during closed periods. Airplanes were used at 

 times, also, for the inspection of the spawning grounds and for trans- 

 porting Bureau officials to isolated districts. During the 1937 

 season 9,335 nautical miles were traveled in these activities, on 31 



