The Seward gateway., 1923-02-03
which had the floating cannery moved from the Yukon to Koggiung. and the

the Nushagak canneries from Naknek and Koggiung. For some reason sal mon were unusually scarce on the Nushagak. Had it not been for the salmon shipped in some of the can- neries would not have put up the, full packs they did. 51
 Boring Sea gives employment to thousands of fishermen. each summer. All of the fishing is done by means of gill nets. The season is short, about one month. A short time indeed when one considers the enormous amount of fish that must be caught to meet the expense of operating and main taining these large canneries. The more fish the cheaper the canned pro- duct, and we are glad to see our gov ernment thru the bureau of fisheries work up here to prevent the eXtermi- nation of the local salmon. No doubt we do not have the run of salmon we had in former years. In addition to ]
 the work done on the lakes by the bureau, complete study of the spawn I ing grounds of the Wood River water shed was made last fall. Needless to say that besides the consumer, the fishermen are pleased to see te bu- .eau do this splendid work. capable l Additional work is planned for the winter. we under stand.
 Most of the fishermen who made any effort last summer made good. Mos, of the residents of Bristol Bay naturally depend on the fish and can neries for a living.
 The canne-y crews the past year were better sort than one was ac- customed to during the war when men were scarce There was mark ed decrease in the number of insane and drug addicts.
 Needless to say that the revenue collected by the Territory in compa- rison with most other parts of Alaska is large. Few regions yield more.
 We are thankful for the two schools maintained by the territory. The teachers are qualified and conscien- tious. The one thing most needed is a wireless-we hope that the govern ment will see to it that we, who are isolated for nine months of the year, get one.
 Judge Green of Anchorage and MT. Mock of Juneau, both representing officialdom, paid us a visit last sum- mer. We were glad to see them and Esl1ope that they come again. We would like to see some arrangements made whereby some of our local residents could take out citizenship papers.
 Ptarmigan are very scarce this year with practically none to be seen. This is very unplea sant as one source of fresh meat is not available. Last year and the years before they were plentiful We will have to wait until the rivers freeze, so that the rein hills with their deer to be butchered. This is our only source of fresh meat.
 Foxes, more than have been seen for some year. But they are by no means thick. As matter of fact this is not what one would call fur country. To get fur one must go one to one hundred and fifty miles inland. The same holds true of big game. One is surprised that more bears are not seen when you consider that salmon are so plentiful. The Wood river wa tershed is considered the largest spawning areas in the world. In the fall quite number of people go camp ing to the lakes, and no bears are seen.
 | Each year a number of fishermen spend the winter here. Some stay be- cause they know that it takes less to live up here Some again want to put in a year in Alaska and others want to trap. The lid being off the beaver accounts for quite few men going trapping. Some of the old timers on trap line are Frank Waski, McGarry, Hardy, Bert Johnson, Guy Grote, Butch Smith and Barnfield. They all went up the Nushagak river. Ed Option and Martin Johnson, for merly of the Kuskokwim, have set tied down at Snag Point. We under stand that they are going Siberia next summer They have purchased supplies and local launch.