RUSSIAN FISHERIES iiy 



Russian Gov^ernment had made no restrictions with 

 regard to this invasion of its neighbours, so long as 

 no harm was done to the inhabitants of the interior. 

 Unfortunately the Russian Seal Fisheries Co. had 

 of late gone in for fishing in addition to its original 

 undertaking, and had hired for this purpose numbers 

 of Japanese, whose junks now scoured Avatcha Bay. 

 These fishermen were to receive a certain percentage 

 of their catch and deliver the remainder to the wealthy 

 monopolists, who were at that time (1900) building 

 a canning factory on the shores of one of the inlets 

 of the bay. In order to increase the output on a 

 larger scale, the mouths of the main rivers, Avatcha, 

 Paratunka, and others, had been netted, thus prevent- 

 ing the fish from reaching the upper waters, where the 

 unfortunate inhabitants of the settlements found their 

 annual supply considerably decreasing and sat gloomily 

 invoking the heavens ! For not only did these pro- 

 ceedings, of which they were unaware, deprive them 

 of their own living, but they were at a loss also to feed 

 their famished dogs, which indirectly affected their 

 sable-hunting in winter. It seems to me that it is of 

 the utmost importance to prohibit such netting en- 

 couraged by the Company, and that the question 

 should be most seriously considered on the part of 

 the local authorities. 



