2 XJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



tures. Roads on both islands were extended and improved to facili- 

 tate fur-seal operations. 



The byproducts plant at St. Paul Island was put into operation for 

 the first time since it was modernized in 1931, and although its effi- 

 ciency was somewhat hindered by the long idleness, there was a sub- 

 stantial production of meal and oil. 



The Navy Department cooperated with the Bureau in detailing the 

 U. S. S. Sirius to transport the annual shipment of supplies to the 

 Pribilof Islands and to bring out the sealskins taken during the 

 season. Valuable assistance was rendered also by the United States 

 Coast Guard in maintaining a patrol for the protection of the fur 

 seals. 



Acknowledgment is made of the assistance rendered by members of 

 the Bureau's staff in the preparation of this document. 



VISIT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES AND OTHER 

 OFFICIALS TO ALASKA 



The Commissioner of Fisheries left Washington on July 22 for his 

 annual trip of inspection of the Alaska fisheries. He sailed from Seattle 

 on the Brant on July 28 and arrived at Cordova on August 8, after 

 having stopped en route at various points in southeast Alaska. From 

 Cordova a trip was made by airplane to Anchorage and the Mata- 

 nuska colony. Fairbanks also was visited. Some additional airplane 

 travel in southeast Alaska expedited the work in that district, and 

 Commissioner Bell returned to Seattle on August 22. 



Congressman C. Elmer Dietrich, of the House Committee on 

 Territories, accompanied Commissioner Bell on the above trip. 

 Besides making personal observations of conditions, he took a series 

 of motion pictures of typical Alaska scenes, including salmon fishing 

 and canning operations, and the new colony at Matanuska. 



Earlier in the season Deputy Commissioner Charles E. Jackson 

 made an extensive inspection of the Bureau's work in Alaska. De- 

 parture from Seattle was made on the Brant on June 1, and during 

 the next few weeks all important fishing districts of the Territory were 

 visited. On July 2 and 3 Mr. Jackson was at the Pribilof Islands to 

 observe the fur-seal activities. He returned to Seattle on July 16. 



WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION 



An allotment of $55,996 for special work in Alaska under the direc- 

 tion of the Bureau of Fisheries was made by the Works Progress 

 Administration from funds available under the Emergenc}' Relief 

 Appropriation Act of 1935. Of this amount, $24,600 was designated 

 for the improvement of salmon-spawning streams in southeast and 

 central Alaska, and $31,396 for repairing the marine ways at Naknek 

 and destroying predatory enemies of salmon in the Bristol Bay region. 



Special permission was granted for employing persons from relief 

 rolls on a piece-work basis in the destruction of predatory fish that 

 feed upon salmon eggs and fry in the Bristol Bay region, and the work 

 there was begun in October 1935 and contmued throughout the winter. 

 The program for improving natural salmon-propagation conditions in 

 southeast and central Alaska was not undertaken before the end of 

 the year, as the funds were not available until fall, when the presence 

 of spawning salmon and approaching winter conditions made it neces- 

 sary to postpone the stream-clearing work. 



