REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 53 



MINOR FUR-BEARING ANIMALS OF ALASKA. 

 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE MINOR FUR BEARERS. 



The Bureau collects statistics of the furs shipped out of Alaska 

 each year, using for this purpose special blanks that are supplied to 

 postmasters, express offices, commercial companies, and individual 

 shippers. Postmasters have cooperated effectively in securing full 

 reports on all mail shipments, and the customhouse records are 

 available for checking up other shipments. 



The cpiantities of furs sent out of Alaska in 1918 were in excess of 

 the records for previous years, with the exception of lynxes and foxes 

 and their value surpassed all other seasons. The compiled figures, 

 exclusive of the fur seals taken on the Pribilof Islands, indicate 

 $1,363,600 as the value of the furs shipped out of Alaska. Most 

 important of the fur bearers were red fox, worth $342,496; white 

 fox, $181,240; lynx, $199,992; mink, $159,718; and muskrat, $103,948. 



Fur farming is receiving much attention in Alaska, but the results, 

 as a whole, are not very satisfactory. The Bureau has had reports 

 of many more or less unsuccessful ventures. Foxes are the favorite 

 animals handled, with occasionally martens, minks, and muskrats. 

 At the end of the calendar year 1918 three islands under the juris- 

 diction of the Department were under lease for the propagation of 

 fur-bearing animals. A number of other islands are available for 

 this purpose. 



REGULATIONS AND VIOLATIONS. 



The 1917 regulations for the taking of fur-bearing animals were 

 substantially unchanged for 1918. The period of total prohibition 

 of beaver trapping was extended to November 1, 1923. On the 

 recommendation of the Governor of Alaska and other disinterested 

 persons, the open season for taking foxes in the region draining into 

 the Arctic Ocean north of the sixty-eighth parallel was extended 30 

 days, so as to include April 14. On September 18, 1918, there was 

 issued a new order prohibiting the use of dogs in pursuing or killing 

 any fur-bearing animals for which a close season is prescribed. 



There have been various prosecutions and seizures of furs for vio- 

 lation of the regulations for the protection of fur-bearing animals. 

 The principal infractions of the regulations are sale of unprime skins 

 obviously taken out of season and possession or sale of beaver, 

 marten, and fur-seal skins. The confiscated furs have been disposed 

 of at public auction in Seattle, and have yielded several thousand 

 dollars in revenue to the Government. 



TRANSFER OF CONTROL. 



The Bureau is administering to the best of its ability the laws re- 

 lating to the terrestrial and arboreal fur bearers of Alaska, but the 

 duty is incongruous to its legitimate functions. The pursuit of 

 foxes does not constitute a fishery. The cultivation of minks can 

 not be successfully conducted in a fish hatchery. If Congress desires 

 to retain jurisdiction over these animals, control should be vested in 

 the Bureau of Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture. 

 The proper alternative course would be to transfer the jurisdiction 

 to the Territory. 



