70 



ALASKA. 



Allowing the average value of salmon during these years to have been $4.50 

 per case, we have a total valuation of $10,337,03 1 for this one export since the 

 industry took this form in Alaska. Add to this sum the value of the salted 

 salmon exported, and the amount used in the Territory, if that were possible, 

 and the grand total would surprise those who have not given the subject a study. 



The report for 1895' of Mr. Joseph Murray, special agent to 

 inspect the fisheries in Alaska, says that during the year, nearly 

 7,000,000 cases, of 48 pounds to the case, were packed, and the 

 total value of the salmon canned was over $2,000,000. 



The species of salmon found in Alaska in quantities sufficient 

 to constitute an economic resource are the red, the king, the silver, 

 the humpback, the dog, the steelhead, and the Dolly Varden varie- 

 ties. By an act of Congress, approved March 2, 1889, the erection 

 of dams, barricades, or other obstructions in Alaska streams to pre- 

 vent the ascent of salmon was prohibited, under penalty of not less 

 than $250 per day. A letter from Secretary Carlisle, dated Feb- 

 ruary 19, 1896, called the attention of Congress to the fact that 

 the law tailed to meet the exigencies of the situation. On June 

 9, 1896, the following act was approved: 



Be H enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives oj the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act approved March 

 second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and entitled "An Act to provide for 

 the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska," is hereby amended and reen- 

 acted as follows : 



"That the erection of dams, barricades, fish wheels, fences, or any such fixed 

 or stationary obstructions in any part of the rivers or streams of Alaska, or to 

 fish for or catch salmon or salmon trout in any manner or by any means with 

 the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of salmon to their 

 spawning ground, is declared to be unlawful, and the Secretary ©f the Treasury 

 is hereby authorized and directed to remove such obstructions and to establish 

 and enforce such regulations and surveillance as may be necessary to insure 

 that this prohibition and all other provisions of law relating to the salmon 

 fisheries of Alaska are strictly complied with. 



"Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful to fish, catch, or kill any salmon of any 

 variety, except with rod or spear, above the tide waters of any of the creeks 

 or rivers of less than five hundred feet width in the Territory of Alaska, except 

 only for purposes of propagation, or to lay or set any drift net, set net, trap, 



