SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
5 
Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, 
Washington, D. C., April 18, 1890. 
Sir: You are hereby clothed with full power and authority to enforce the provisions of law con- 
tained in act of Congress approved March 2, 1889, providing for the protection of the salmon fisheries 
of Alaska, which prohibits the erection of dams, barricades, or other obstructions in any of the rivers 
of Alaska, with the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of salmon or other anad- 
romous species to their spawning-grounds. 
Respectfully, yours. 
Geo. S. Batcheller, 
Acting Secretary. 
Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, 
Commanding U. S. Fish Commission Steamer Albatross, 
San Francisco, Cal. 
Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, 
Washington, D. C., March 1G, 1889. 
To Collectors and other Officers of the Customs : 
The following provision of the act approved March 2, 1889, entitled “An act to provide for the 
protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska ” is hereby published for the information and guidance of 
all concerned : 
“ That the erection of dams, barricades, or other obstructions in any of the rivers of Alaska, with 
the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of salmon or other anadromous species to 
their spawning-grounds, is hereby declared to be unlawful, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized and directed to establish such regulations and surveillance as may be necessary to insure 
that this prohibition is strictly enforced and to otherwise protect the salmon fisheries of Alaska; and 
every person who shall be found guilty of a violation of the provisions of this section shall be fined 
not less than $250 for each day of the continuance of such obstruction.” 
Collectors and other officers of the customs, and officers under the jurisdiction of this Department 
who may be assigned to duty in Alaska, will see that the requirements of said section are strictly 
observed, and that no dams, barricades, or other obstructions are placed in any of the rivers of Alaska 
with the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of salmon or other anadromous 
species to their spawning-grounds ; and should any such dams, barricades, or other obstructions be 
discovered, to warn the persons who erected the same to immediately remove them and thereafter report 
the persons (with statement of facts) to the United States attorney of Alaska for prosecution under 
the said section, and also to forward duplicate reports to this Department for its information. 
Officers of the Revenue-Marine Service on duty in Alaskan waters are hereby required, so far as 
practicable, to assist officers of the customs in Alaska in seeing that the requirements of the statute 
are strictly enforced. 
Hugh S. Thompson, 
Acting Secretary . 
On April 23 a letter of instructions was forwarded to Lieut. Commander Tanner, 
calling- his attention to the existence of a trap or dam on Wood River, as also to the 
order of the Secretary of the Treasury directing the Revenue-Marine steamers to 
enforce the law as far as circumstances would permit, and to the request that the 
steamer Albatross make an investigation and carry out the provisions of the law in 
case of its violation. Lieut. Commander Tanner was directed to make this one of the 
first objects of his cruise in Bering Sea, and to comply with the instructions of the 
Secretary of the Treasury as fully as possible. His report, after making the investi- 
gation, was as follows : 
Unalaska, Alaska Territory, June 15, 1890. 
Hou. Marshall McDonald, 
U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, Washington, D. C. : 
Dear Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the Albatross anchored in the Nushagak River on 
June 3. I visited the four canneries located on that stream the following day. They use gill nets 
