REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 37 
by law with duty toward the fisheries, to the end that the unique 
fishery-products laboratory in Washington and the temporary lab- 
oratory on the California coast be operated for the solution of various 
technological problems, that statistical canvasses showing the condi- 
tion and trend of the fisheries may be prosecuted more frequently and 
more promptly, and that numerous field inquiries and investigations 
concerned with methods of taking, handling, preserving, and market- 
ing fishery products may be carried on. A special appropriation is 
requested for the conduct of investigations in the development and 
standardization of methods of preservation of Pacific coast fishes. 
When provision is made for enlarged investigations of wider 
scope, there will be required also such a readjustment of salaries as 
will enable the Bureau to secure and retain the services of persons 
properly qualified in the various branches and for an increased per- 
sonnel that will include an assistant in fishery trade practices, three 
fishery technologists, a technical machinist capable of operating and 
caring for the highly specialized equipment of the fishery-products 
laboratory, and at least three additional statistical agents. 
ALASKA FISHERIES SERVICE. 
EXTENT OF THE ALASKA FISHERIES. 
The 1920 salmon season had as its outstanding features a dimin- 
ished catch in southeast Alaska and an increased catch in central and 
western Alaska as compared with 1919; an increase in the number of 
canneries operated but an output of canned fish that was less than in 
each of the five preceding years; a decline in the business in mild- 
cured, pickled, and fresh salmon; and a very dull market for canned 
salmon, especially the cheaper grades, many lots of which were sold 
for less than the cost of production. 
The salmon taken in the Alaska fisheries in 1920 numbered 
65,080,539 fish, of which 32,112,611 were humpback or pink salmon, 
20,187,925 red or sockeye salmon, 10,113,677 chum or dog salmon, 
1,890,859 coho or silver salmon, and 775,467 king or spring salmon. 
Apportioned by geographical districts the catch in southeast Alaska 
was 33,096,640 fish, central Alaska 19,574,332 fish, and western 
Alaska, 12,409,567 fish. Comparing these figures with the returns for 
1919, it appears that there was a net increase of about 12 per cent; 
coho, chum, and king salmon were taken in less numbers and hump- 
back and red salmon in greater numbers. 
The canneries, which consumed the principal part of the salmon 
eatch, numbered 146, an increase of 12 over 1919. The pack of canned 
fish was 4,429,463 cases, with a market value of $35,602,800, a decrease 
of 154,225 cases and $7,662,549 from the previous year. The pack 
both of red and king salmon was larger and that of the other species 
was smaller than in 1919. 
Other salmon products were 1,857,800 pounds of mild-cure‘ fish, 
valued at $364,219 ; 964,400 pounds of pickled fish, valued at $104,873 ; 
1,916,595 pounds of frozen fish, valued at $161,143 ; 3,248,081 pounds 
of fresh fish, valued at $263,264; 244,840 pounds of dry-salted, dried, 
and smoked fish, valued at $40,785; 39,052 gallons of oil, valued at 
$16,370; and 1,778,000 pounds of fertilizer, valued at $88,382; giving 
