The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-05-02
TIE HAsKIN LETTER
The Alaskan Opportunity.
fisheries 0ndFurS
BY Hreaer1s , {. ksaStfR-

The building of the railroad from
Seward to Fairbanks will undoubted-
IL prove a stimulus to the develop
ment of Alaskan fisheries and will
very likely extend the salmon can
ming industry TO the Yukon IL VIII
make the wilderness between the
coast and the Yukon valley accessible
4 to trader and trapper, and will IN
doubleday promote the raising of fur
in captivity. which is already prom
Il Using industry in Alaska.
Salmon taking IS By no means the
!; only fishing industry of Alaska. but
It is the best known and by long odds
the most spectacular. Every spring
millions OF these splendid fish leave
4 the seas to swarm up the streams
Il the white man came. the Indians
! took salmon in great numbers.
\ snatching them from the crowded
4 waters with saff and dipnet. The
! bears DESTROYED them by the thous-
/, and. slapping them out OF the water
/ in wanton fun. Great tiocks OF guns
/ gathered along the rivers 10 feed up
| on the fish, often taking the eye ana
| leaving the salmon to perish SLOWLY,
! Eagles fook heavy toll In fact all
| the creatures of the Alaskan WHO'S
fed upon the salmon. but their com
| bined depredations scarcely made
dent in the great run" which came
up each year in undiminished num-
bers.
Then the white man came to Alas
ka in search of gold and saw tne
silver horde. Within rev a ss
/ the mouth of every river along the
southern and western coasts was
| filled with traps and nets. Only
| fraction of the salmon run could pass
these barriers 10 reach the spaw ming
/ grounds. For the first time the
! horde found an enemy that threat
ened its existence
I To maintain the salmon run IN All
! its abundance. despite continual hsn-
/ ing by an organized industry. IS
/ perhaps the greatest problem tnat
/ confronts the government in Alaska.
4 S:xty million of these fish are taken
4 every year from Alaskan wgters. IN
| less enough salmon pass the gaunt-
4 let of the traps andaets 10 replenisn
4 this tremendous catch. it IS only
/ mater of time until the salmon in
| dnstrx will be destroyed The gov
I eminent maintains Two hatcherles
which produce fry TO restoek the
Il waters. II exacts tax for every
4 pound of salmon taken; 1t declares
H closed season from Saturday night
H 70 Monday morning: it patrols the
H waters 10 see that regulations are
obeyed. In addition TO all these pre-
cautions it has been found necessary
10 close one stream after another 10
the fisherman. The building and
completion of the government rail-
I road will undoubtedly be great
h stimulus to the salmon industry ana
i will make even more rigorous pre-
cautions necessary 10 prevent TINS
splendid industry from destroying It
self.
that the salmon hsnerlss OIL al I'd me
are by no means an undevetopeo re-
source. nor can they be said to oHer
anv great opportunities for eHpan-
sion except. possibly. in the Yukon
region. But there are many other
fish in the Alaskan waters that nave
been almost wholly overlooked De
cause of the abundance OF the sal
mon. Halibut fishing has become an
important industry only in the last
few years. Formerly halibut were
taken always in small boats and
rough weather often prevented their
| operation. Now eagoing vessels
! are used and one of sthe most per
feet systems OF refrigeratins en-
shipment in the world has been de-
veioped. Halibut taken in the set-
chikan region are there placed in colo
J.
steamers to Seattle and Vancouver.
md thence rushed across the coptIn-
ent TO Boston and New York Alaska
has become the principal source OF
supply of halibut for all of the greas
eastern cities. and the fresh hanoo'
that you buy in a New York restau-
rant was caught in Alaskan waters
nine times out oil ten
Pacific railroad to Prince Rupert, d
C.. is expected TO be groat stimu-
Illus TO the haIiAut Industry; for Prince
Rupert is only ninety miles IRON
Ketchikan and VII make il poss pie
10 place halibut in the New or
markets forty-eisht hours sooner
than by way of Seattle
One of the really undevelopeo re-
sources OF Alaska is its cod fisheries
on Unga island the Scandinavians
have been taking cod at an excellent
profit for many years. but the indus
try has not developed to anything
like the proportions which il might
have. The bureau of fisheries re-
ports that many Of the best cod FISH
cries are wholly untouched, and in
this line there ia undoubtedly splen-
did opportunity for capital and en-
terprise.
Even more neglected than the cod
fisheries is the tremendous herring
run Of the Alaskan rivers. An idea
OF how these fish are despised, in that
land of plenty, may be gained from
the fact that one factory has been
erected for converting them into Of
and fertilizer without any attempt to
use them as food.
The food of the Alaskan herring
leaves a despit in IT'S elementary track
which causes the flesh 10 become dis
coiored after the fish is killed: and