AMERICA'S MOST VALUABLE FISHES 
509 
have elapsed since salmon canning be- 
gan, more than 85 million cases (each 
holding 48 one-pound cans or the equiva- 
lent) have been packed. The fresh 
weight of the salmon entering into this 
output has been over five billion pounds. 
Recent years have witnessed marked 
changes in the relative amounts of salmon 
canned, salted, and sold fresh or refrig- 
erated, but much the largest proportion 
of the catch is still canned, and this will 
necessarily be the case for years to come. 
Salmon fishing is conducted through- 
out the range of the salmons, but the 
industry is most extensive in or near the 
mouths of certain streams, chief of 
which are the Sacramento, Columbia, 
Fraser, Skeena, Karluk, and Nushagak. 
Most of the fishing in Alaska is in bays, 
straits, and sands adjacent to small 
streams. 
In 1909 the aggregate catch of salmon 
in the Pacific States, British Columbia, 
and Alaska was upward of 400 million 
pounds, which, as sold in a canned, 
salted, smoked, frozen, or fresh condi- 
tion, had a market value of about %2y,- 
750,000. The canned product alone, 
consisting of more than five million 
cases of 48 one-pound cans, was worth 
$25,500,000. Thirty-five thousand people 
were engaged in the dilTerent branches 
of the industry, and the invested capital 
was fully $30,000,000. 
Alaska's enormous salmon resources 
Many years have elapsed since Alaska 
ceased to be "Seward's Folly," because 
Alaska for a long time has annually more 
than repaid her purchase price in salmon 
alone. The salmons have in fact been 
Alaska's most valuable contribution to 
the world's needs, exceeding in abun- 
dance and importance those of any other 
region. 
The salmon industry may be said to 
have began in 1878, when the first can- 
nery was operated. The exploitation of 
the different sections has progressed 
rapidly, and in 191 1 the catch was prob- 
ably the largest ever made, amounting to 
about 44 million fish, weighing nearly 
208 million pounds. 
While all of the five species occur in 
Alaska, they differ markedly in distribu- 
tion and relative abundance. The red 
salmon is most numeroiis in central and 
western Alaska, where three-fourths of 
the catch is obtained. On the other hand, 
nine-tenths of the output of humpbacks 
and a large proportion of the other spe- 
cies come from southeast Alaska. The 
preponderance of the red and humpback 
species is shown by the fact that of the 
44 million salmon utilized in 191 1, about 
17^ million were the former and 215^ 
million the latter. 
To have transported, in a fresh con- 
dition, the output of 191 1 would have 
required a train of 6,900 freight cars, 
each holding 30,000 pounds of fish. If 
placed end to end, the fish would have 
extended in an unbroken line from New 
York to San Francisco, back to New 
York, and again to San Francisco. 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUPREME IN 
ALASKA 
Interest in the salmon fisheries of 
Alaska is increased by the fact that they 
are under the jurisdiction of the Federal 
government. The remarkable develop- 
ment of the industry and its flourishing 
condition are to be attributed in great 
measure to the wise policy adopted by 
the government in encouraging the utili- 
zation of the resources while safeguard- 
ing the supply. Under the wise laws 
made by Congress, supplemented by the 
large discretionary powers invested in 
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, 
the salmon fisheries ought to remain un- 
impaired for an indefinite period. 
The major key to the situation is the 
authority to close to all fishing for a term 
of years any stream in which the extent 
of the fishing is disproportionate to the 
number of fish that are allowed to reach 
their spawning grounds. 
Although the fishery force available 
for patrolling the Alaskan coast is woe- 
fully inadequate, yet even in the most 
remote and seldom visited parts there is 
a wholesome sentiment for salmon pro- 
tection, and violations of the law are 
surprisingly few. 
The large fishing companies, with im- 
mense vested interests, are vitally con- 
cerned in the perpetuation of the salmon 
supply, and are willing to meet the gov- 
