INTRODUCTION 



The conservation of the fisheries of Ahiska by means of protective 

 regulations and the management of the Pribilof Islands fur-seal herd 

 are among the major duties of the Bureau. This work in 1935 was 

 continued along the same general plan as in previous years. The 

 Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries each spent 

 several weeks in the Territory during the summer for personal ob- 

 servation of fishery operations; activities at the Pribilof Islands also 

 were observed. 



Upon the basis of previous experience several changes were made in 

 the fishery regulations, the most important of which was that curtail- 

 ing the fishing season in Bristol Bay, where a small run of salmon 

 was anticipated. 



The total pack of salmon in Alaska compared favorably with the 

 average production of recent years. The small pack of red salmon, 

 occasioned by poor runs in the Bristol Bay, Alaska Peninsula, and 

 Chignik areas and by fishermen's strikes in the Copper River area, 

 was offset to some extent by a large pack of pink salmon in southeast 

 Alaska. 



In the patrol of the fishing grounds 14 Bureau vessels and 3 char- 

 tered boats were used, and 170 temporary employees were engaged for 

 varying periods. Chartered airplanes were used eft'ectively in tliis 

 work and also in making surveys of the spawning grounds after the 

 close of commercial fishing. 



Scientific studies of salmon and herring were continued in coopera- 

 tion with the Division of Scientific Inquiry during the year. Attention 

 was given to the routes of migration of salmon in Clarence Strait as 

 indicated by tagging operations. Herring also were tagged to trace 

 their movements and to determine the degree of interdependence of 

 the various populations in southeast Alaska. 



In connection with some of the biological work, and to determine 

 the relation between the catch and escapement of salmon, 11 weirs 

 were operated in typical streams, through which all ascending salmon 

 were counted. At several weirs predatory trout were destroyed, and 

 in Bristol Bay a program of trout control was started on a larger 

 scale with funds allotted by the Works Progress Administration. 



At the Pribilof Islands 57,296 fur-seal skins were taken, an increase 

 of 3,826 over the number taken in 1934. Killings were confined as far 

 as possible to 3-year-old males, and a sufficient number of such animals 

 was reserved for breeding purposes. The census of the herd as of 

 August 10, 1935, showed 1,550,913 animals of all classes, an increase 

 of 120,495 over the corresponding fi.gures for the previous year. 

 During the winter of 1935-36, 1,019 blue and 15 white fox skins were 

 taken from the herds at the islands. 



Work was completed on the new schoolhouse at St. George Island 

 during the year, and minor improvements were made to other struc- 



