FEDERAL FISH FARAIIXG 



429 



of utilizing fishery products, the means 

 and methods of transportation, and the 

 extent and condition of the wholesale 

 trade; (7) a census of the fishing popu- 

 lation, their economic and hygienic condi- 

 tion, nativity, and citizenship; (8) a 

 study of international questions affecting 

 the fisheries; (9) the prosecution of in- 

 quiries regarding the fishing apparatus 

 and methods of foreign countries. 



PROTECTING THE ALASKAN SALMON 



The fishing interests of Alaska, repre- 

 senting an investment of $10,000,000 and 

 yielding last year a product valued at 

 more than $11,800,000, have received es- 

 pecial attention from the government 

 ever since the territory was acquired, in 

 1867. The seal fisheries, at first consid- 

 ered the most valuable sources of reve- 

 nue, were at once placed under protective 

 legislation. Later there appeared a 

 similar need of regulation of the salmon 

 fisheries, which have now come to sup- 

 port industries many times more valuable 

 than the seal fisheries and standing in 

 large proportion to the total fishing inter- 

 ests of the whole United States. 



The Alaska salmon-inspection service 

 has thus grown to be one of the most 

 important branches of government fish- 

 ery work, and it is one of the few in- 

 stances where the government has as- 

 sumed legislative powers over fishing. 



The protection of the Alaska salmon 

 fisheries has been a difficult problem. 

 The unheard-of magnitude of the re- 

 sources invited a corresponding reckless- 

 ness and improvidence. As the canning 

 industry developed, every device .that 

 could be used for wholesale capture of 

 fish was put into operation, and gradually 

 all of the favorite streams of the salmon 

 became so blocked with seines, gill nets, 

 traps, and barricades that but a small 

 proportion of the fish could find passage 

 to the spawning grounds, and the future 

 supply was thus most seriously endan- 

 gered. 



The Alaskan aborigines likewise con- 

 ducted their fishing in a very destructive 

 way, often placing impassable barriers in 

 streams up which salmon were running, 



and, through ignorance or indifference, 

 leaving the obstructions in place after the 

 full supply of fish had been secured. It 

 was soon apparent that the laws and 

 regulations were inadecjuate to meet the 

 special conditions prevailing, and were of 

 such a nature as to make their enforce- 

 ment very difficult. 



In 1903 a special commission was ap- 

 pointed to make exhaustive study of the 

 natural history of the salmons of Alaska 

 and to submit recommendations for an 

 improved regulation of the fisheries. As 

 a result a new code of laws is now in 

 eft'ect and promises to prevent the 

 threatened decline in these enormous in- 

 dustries. With increased restrictions as 

 to fishing methods, obstructions in 

 streams, close seasons, etc., the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce and Labor is em- 

 powered to set aside any streams as 

 spawning preserves whenever such course 

 shall be desirable, 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 can- 

 ning and salting establishments are ex- 

 empted upon condition of their return- 

 ing young salmon to the streams in the 

 ratio of 1,000 fry to every 10 cases of 

 salmon canned. Five private hatcheries, 

 representing extensive canning interests, 

 were in operation in 1908 and liberated a 

 total of 150,000,000 young fish. 



The seal and salmon fisheries have 

 hitherto overshadowed all other aquatic 

 resources in Alaska, not only in commer- 

 cial value but in revenue to the govern- 

 ment. The rental from the fur-seal isl- 

 ands alone has more than repaid the pur- 

 chase price of the territory, and the tax 

 derived from the salmon fisheries now 

 amounts to about $100,000 a year. Some 

 long-neglected products are gradually 

 coming into importance, however, and the 

 cod, halibut, and herring fisheries espe- 

 cially have undergone remarkable devel- 

 opment in the last few years. Since it 

 became a part of the United States, 

 Alaska has yielded fishery products 

 amounting in value to $170,000,000. of 

 which about $50,000,000 was derived 

 from fur-seals, $96,000,000 from salmon. 



