THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 1 393 



set aside any streams as spawning preserves whenever such course shall be desir- 

 able, all fishing in such waters to be prohibited. A license tax is required on 

 all salmon products; from the payment of this tax, however, all canning and 

 salting establishments are exempted upon condition of their returning young 

 salmon to the streams in the ratio of 1,000 fry to every 10 cases of salmon 

 canned. Three private hatcheries, representing extensive canning interests, 

 were in operation in 1907 and liberated a total of 119,000,000 young fish. The 

 Government itself has undertaken extensive hatchery work, having now in oper- 

 ation a station at Yes Lake established in 1905 and one at Afognak Bay just 

 completed. In the two years of its operations the Yes Bay hatchery has 

 produced and liberated over 61,000,000 salmon fry. 



The seal and salmon fisheries have hitherto overshadowed all other aquatic 

 resources in Alaska, not only in commercial value but in revenue to the Gov- 

 ernment. The rental from the fur-seal islands alone has more than repaid the 

 purchase price of the Territory, and the tax derived from the salmon fisheries 

 now amounts to about $90,000 a year. Some long-neglected products are gradu- 

 ally coming into importance, however, and the cod, halibut, and herring fisheries 

 especially have undergone remarkable development in the last few years. 

 Since it became a part of the United States, Alaska has yielded fishery products 

 amounting in value to $158,000,000, of which about $49,000,000 was derived 

 from fur seals, $86,000,000 from salmon, and the remaining $23,000,000 from 

 all other aquatic products. The sum paid by the United States to Russia for 

 the Territory of Alaska was only $7,200,000. 



RELATIONS WITH THE STATES AND WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



From the beginning of its career the Bureau has maintained cordial rela- 

 tions with the fishery authorities of the various States. The policy has been 

 to aid and supplement, never to supplant, the work of the States; and the 

 field is so large and the objects in view have such importance and common 

 interest that there should never arise cause for unfriendly rivalry. The coop- 

 eration in fish-cultural, biological, and fishery work has been extensive. 



Twenty-seven of the States have hatcheries of their own, and to any of 

 these the Bureau transfers eggs and fry when they are available and desired. 

 This policy is not only an aid to the state work, but facilitates the hatching by 

 relieving congestion at the government stations, and it also permits the most 

 judicious planting of the fish. The Bureau has in a number of cases taken over 

 and operated hatcheries owned by the States, and in others the egg collections 

 are made conjointly. In the Pacific salmon work there was for vears coopera- 

 tion between the California Fish Commission and the Bureau, and much of the 

 whitefish and pike perch work on Lake Erie has been done by the Bureau work- 

 ing with the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania. 



