164 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



as great a population as Detroit, but, with 

 the exception of Brighton, no municipality 

 appears to have thought of the value and 

 interest that such an institution would 

 have for its citizens. America has spent 

 well over a million sterling on such institu- 

 tions. In them the field of education is 

 enlarged, and people, especially children, 

 find pleasure as well as profit to their minds. 

 Moreover, the study of fish life which they 

 promote has taught valuable lessons to 

 those in charge of propagating the fisheries. 



The United States will find the Alaskan 

 fisheries increasingly important when the 

 territories bordering the Sitkan coast are 

 opened out. Purchased in 1867 from Russia 

 for the sum of 7,250,000 dollars, Alaska is 

 no doubt a valuable addition to the United 

 States, for in 1917 the canned salmon alone 

 from this region produced 40,000,000 

 dollars, and great increases in the traffic 

 are expected, for new canneries are con- 

 tinually being erected. 



The Americans, following the example 

 set by the Japanese, are taking up the 

 possibilities of whale meat as a food. It is 

 favourably received, and is likely, as soon 



