THE ALASKA FISHERIES SERVICE 



By Barton Warren Evermann 



The Alaska Fisheries Service, Bureau of Fisheries, is 

 just now in the process of development or organization, and 

 in order to understand just what that service is or what we 

 hope it may be, let me give a short account of the various 

 constituent parts which will compose it, or which we hope 

 will compose it. 



Up to five years ago the salmon fisheries service of 

 Alaska was in the hands of the Treasury Department. The 

 Bureau of Fisheries had nothing directly to do with the 

 salmon fisheries of Alaska except in a general way. 



But five years ago that service was transferred from the 

 Treasury Department to the 13epartment of Commerce and 

 Labor and placed in the Bureau of Fisheries of that depart- 

 ment. That service then consisted of an agent and an 

 assistant agent. A little later a salmon inspector was added 

 by Congress, and now that branch of the work is in charge 

 of an agent, our own Mr. Marsh filling that position, an 

 assistant agent, Mr. John N. Cobb, and a salmon inspector, 

 Mr. H. C. Fassett. 



The fur seal service remained with the I'reasury Depart- 

 ment until a little less than two years ago. At the end of 

 December, 1908, it was transferred from tlie Treasury 

 Department to the Department of Commerce and Labor 

 and placed in the Bureau of Fisheries in that department. 



At that time the fur seal service was handled in this 

 way: the Government leased the seal islands to a commer- 

 cial company. The first original lease was made forty 

 years ago. At the expiration of twenty years a new lease 

 was entered into with a new company. The first company 

 was the Alaska Commercial Company; then twenty years 

 later, or in 1890, the North American Commercial Com- 

 pany was given the lease to kill seals on the seal islands. 



