REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 75 
dicted; and the requirement that persons engaged in fur farming 
should secure a license from the Department was discontinued. 
At the end of the fiscal year four of the Alaska Islands which the 
Department may lease for fur-farming purposes were so leased. 
The plan of supplying blue foxes for breeding purposes from the 
Pribilof Islands has not been continued since the summer of 1914. 
In addition to the difficulty experienced in making deliveries of live 
animals from this remote region, it was felt that the conditions of 
the herds did not warrant depleting them of the best potential breed- 
ing elements, which animals the prospective breeders would natu- 
rally require. A portion of the animals sold in 1914 were taken to 
a ranch in Michigan; they have not yet bred in their new environ- 
ment, and the results of the venture are awaited with interest. 
The total value of the minor furs sent out of Alaska in the year 
ending November 15, 1914, was approximately $650,000. The two 
most conspicuous furs as regards aggregate value are red fox and 
mink, although white fox, lynx, muskrat, and marten are also im- 
portant. It is a pleasure to be able to report a rapid increase in 
beavers in southeastern Alaska and in various parts of the interior; 
and a further marked increase may confidently be expected as a 
result of the prohibition of the killing of beavers until November 1, 
1918. 
In view of the incongruity of including strictly terrestrial animals 
in a bureau devoted to aquatic animals and the fisheries, it is believed 
that Congress should make early provision for a change in the admin- 
istration of the laws pertaining to the minor fur-bearing animals of 
Alaska, in accordance with recommendations that have been made 
in former reports. Aside from the question of administration, there 
are anomalies and inconsistencies in the existing laws that cail for 
immediate attention; and, furthermore, the general act protecting the 
fur bearers is fundamentally defective. 
This matter has been taken up by the Departments of Commerce 
and Agriculture through a committee of four persons representing 
the Bureau of Fisheries and the Bureau of Biological Survey, and 
an agreement has been reached under which an appeal will be made 
to Congress for a proper allocation of duties in the two departments. 
The recommendations of the committee, submitted April 10, 1915, 
and approved by the respective Secretaries, provide (1) that Con- 
gress be requested to order the transfer to the Department of Agri- 
‘culture of jurisdiction over the terrestrial fur-bearing animals of 
Alaska now exercised by the Department of Commerce; and (2) that 
at the same time the Department of Commerce should be given exclu- 
sive jurisdiction over all aquatic or amphibious animals whose pur- 
suit constitutes a fishery, such as walrus, whales, porpoises, and sea 
lions, in addition to fur seals and sea otters. 
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 
MOVEMENTS OF VESSELS. 
In June, 1914, the Albatross was dispatched to the Pribilof Islands 
with the Deputy Commissioner, who subsequently used the vessel for 
an inspection of the fisheries in parts of central and western Alaska. 
On August 15 the Deputy Commissioner disembarked at Juneau, and 
