144 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1919. 



With this species at first the only salmon in demand, it is natural 

 that the streams of central and western Alaska were among the 

 earliest exploited. Canneries entered the field in 1882, when one 

 was constructed on the Kussilof River in Cook Inlet and another on 

 the Karluk River, Kodiak Island. Others followed in rapid suc- 

 cession. In 1899, 25 canneries were operated in central and western 

 Alaska: The Copper River supported 4; Cook Inlet, 2; the Karluk 

 River, 6; Alitak, 2; Afognak Island, 2; Chignik, 3; Orzenoi, 1; Thin 

 Point, 1; and Nushagak, 4. In many of these localities, salteries 

 had been in operation for a number of years before the canneries 

 were built. Thus the principal red-salmon districts of central and 

 western Alaska were already occupied at that date and have been 

 assiduously fished for 30 years or more. The question of how well 

 the sockeye colonies have sustained the exactions of the commercial 

 fisheries during this lon^ term of years is pertinent. 



The subject is complicated and difficult to handle. Each stream 

 in this vast area has its own wholly independent run of fish and has 

 had its individual history. One stream may have been overfished 

 to the point of exhaustion, while others in the same district may 

 have maintained their runs unimpaired. So long as undeveloped 

 territory remains and may be gradually drawn on, the total or mass 

 statistics from a given district give no answer to the question of de- 

 pletion. Nothing short of individual stream statistics are adequate, 

 and even these must extend over a term of years, during which the 

 manner of fishing and the amount of fishing gear employed each 

 year are accurately given. Unfortunately, no such statistics are 

 published and available, yet they would form the essential founda- 

 tion for any well-considered scheme of conservation. Without such 

 a body of statistics, legislation to protect and maintain the fisheries 

 must be a groping in the dark. The Bureau of Fisheries should at 

 once proceed to gather annually, under a skilled statistician, a well- 

 planned body of data, referring where possible to individual streams. 

 These should be collated in tabular form, digested, and pubhshed. 



The preservation of the salmon supply to the rivers of Alaska 

 concerns most vitally the body of consumers which constitute the 

 general public. It is contrary to their interests that the fisheries be 

 ruthlessly exploited and an important source of highly valuable food 

 be placed in jeopardy, greatly diminished, and in time totally de- 

 stroyed. The importance of sea foods will increase with the years, 

 as grazing lands grow more and more restricted and flocks and herds 

 continue to diminish. Yet now, in a period of comparative abun- 

 dance, through sheer heedlessness and childish improvidence, this 

 country is in danger of permitting the virtual destruction of the most 

 important sea food it posesses — one which the ocean provides with- 

 out cost and brings to its very doors. 



The trend of events, at least, should be ascertained and an op- 

 portunity given wisely to safeguard paramount interests before ir- 

 retrievable harm has been done. To this end it is essential that 

 wherever possible stream statistics be prepared and that they be 

 made public year by year. It will then be possible to learn how 

 well the pubhc trust is being administered. Should such statistics 

 prove a progressive depletion of the salmon supply in any or in all 

 districts, it is to be hoped public sentiment will be aroused and 

 would find expression, demanding adequate protective legislation. 



