***** 



REPORT OF ALASKA INVESTIGATIONS. 



■■■'■, V*The'pMip"tpgra.phie records of fisheries operations, fox ranching, seal life on the Pribilof Islands, and 

 other less important subjects, which show the results of the season's work, were secured partly with the 

 cooperation of Mr. W. H. Burnet, who accompanied me throughout the entire trip. The handicap under 

 which we labored in securing these pictures is shown by the fact that the weather during nearly 80 per cent 

 of the time spent in Alaska was rainy and foggy. 



SALMON INDUSTRY. 

 FEDERAL CONTROL OF FISHERIES. 



Any division of authority between the Department of Commerce and officials of the Territory of 

 Alaska in administering the Alaska fisheries laws would be detrimental to the salmon and other fishery 

 industries. It would so confuse conditions that neither the officials of this Department nor the Territory 

 would have adequate authority. What is needed is not divided power, but the concentration of authority 

 under one responsible administrative department. 



It is my undivided and unbiased belief that a continuation of the present investment of such authority 

 in the Department of Commerce will be fruitful of much more real good to the fisheries of Alaska than 

 any division of authority. 



The contention of some in Alaska that the Territory can better administer its own fishery affairs 

 is susceptible of adverse criticism because of the strife and friction between the diverse local interests 

 that would almost inevitably follow such efforts to handle the situation. This has been the result in some 

 States, and it is therefore my honest belief that full Federal control of the fisheries of Alaska, as impartially 

 and honestly administered by the Department of Commerce through the Bureau of Fisheries, will result 

 most beneficially to all interests concerned. And, furthermore, owing to the vast amount of practical 

 and scientific knowledge and information acquired and developed during an extended period by men of 

 unusual training and experience in the Bureau of Fisheries, any idea or thought of transferring jurisdiction 

 over this highly important industry to another institution or board of the National Government should be 

 dismissed at once, as such action would be a serious mistake and would prove a handicap to the greatest 

 development of Alaska's rich fishery resources. 



GENERAL METHODS. 



There is probably no part of this great industry that has created more controversy than the methods 

 employed in catching the 60,000,000 salmon which are taken each year from the waters of Alaska. It 

 is an easy matter for those who favor certain forms of fishing apparatus to blame those using other forms 

 for the alleged diminution in the supply of salmon, but it is not easy for a disinterested person to ascertain 

 the relative effect and place the responsibility for any injury that may result from any abuses of these 

 methods. 



The four principal methods are trap fishing, purse seining, haul or beach seining, and gill netting. 

 Trolling for king salmon is placed under another head, as it is so distinctly a separate business and so 

 closely affiliated with mild curing that an independent discussion will prove more helpful than to take it 

 up with the principal methods used in catching Alaska's enormous production of sockeye, humpback, 

 silver, and chum salmon. I have studied these four methods of fishing from an entirely unprejudiced 

 standpoint, and I have noted the various conditions and have viewed them from every angle. In some 

 parts of Alaska certain conditions obtain, in others they are entirely different. Therefore, I will endeavor 

 in this part of my report, as well as under other heads, to cover all phases of the question, looked at 

 from all sides. 



One of the^things that impressed me most forcibly was the fact that everyone that used any particular 

 kind of fishing gear did so because it suited his conditions best and because it was the best business method and 

 produced the best results. This feature alone is what every business man tries to bring out most clearly 

 in conducting any enterprise. 



TRAP FISHING. 



In Alaska to-day there are some 275 traps. Of these, approximately 65 per cent are in southeastern 

 Alaska. The condition of the water, the effect of the tides, and the swiftness of the current, the character 

 of the bottom, and depth of water are all contributing reasons why the traps are used in various places. 



