New Britain herald., 1928-07-20
MILLIONS OF FISH N ALASKAN WATERS
|almon, Hahbut Trout and Her. ring in Sportsmau's Paradise
(DY J. VANCE)

IL V I8 ApOUt tlIics III tHeSe AldSkdH
 "Reminiscences. that the follower of
 Eaak Walton is allowed an oppor-
 unity to read of his favorite sport in
 jhe frontier country, consequently l i'm going to try and take the angler | 1n trip with us and incidentally ! e!! os one o. the most unusua! !n- ficents os sn u.usua! t.!p.-when
 come to 1t.
 Alaska Is a land 0. :!s. and ::sh-
 yr:en. cou!c ouote. a:te. consult
 Eg government statistics. figures .o.ce..i.g tie e:o-S.ous catches 0.
 a..o., ha!:5ut a:e .ow!y (:c
 Atasxa) cod. but figures many tines
 l.e exkaust::g and Of Mtt!e interest
 xcept to expert stat:et!c!ans. There
 ore sha!! limit myself to persona!
 Observations a.d estimates gained
 Eo:. conversations w:tA ca.:e.y
 Ee. a:e guides. :. Go got believe
 :t.e- tAst shall be able to create
 b: you sa exaggerated picture G: tHe
 a!mo: TUES: exagge.at:o: IS ::::-
 !oss:5!e w!e: tie Ao.ces O. tAese
 tsA are described.
 Practically everything wA.::cA
 wins, :.:es a.6 walks j. .,asa.:a
 Ives 0. salmon. -Ae .:sA s.1 its
 paw: a.e prey :o. ::C!t:tu6ss c.
 ,..-:a!s. Seals. seq lions. ws!.us ard
 uch hunt him av!c!y. ard success
 u!!y. Various members os the trout
 am!!y follow h!.: Up the streams
 ,cc eat his spawn. Eagles, foxes
 y:x. wolverine and bears cate. liz:
 .o-: the banks c. eat h!:. a.te. .e
 .as spawned and died. !sM5ut, coc
 .:c herring seer: to follow tie
 .cAoo!s, at least as "a. ss fresh water. Crabs vii! De found o:e the
 :out!s Of creeks after tie -u. has
 tactec. where previously there were
 10 crabs at a.!. Even the crow ard
 ave: have become fish eaters. 'eMsA!ng much g bit os salmon. Needless to say tie a!eut India: 'se.!sAes salmon. :.es!. C. smoked, l:c he feeds 1t to lis dogs at ho::c }. O. tAe trail.
 Natures Free Cafeteria Nature has provided the sa!::o: 10. tAe susteaacce Of life !n Alaska |t.d provided them l. such quantity hat they vii! supply food almost without limit. The fish. ot which There are severa! species. run up the Ftreams n -a!ts. not schools. They |tepos!t their numerous eggs ard Be. The young return to salt wate. |ss small fish. live the!. cycle os Fears. return to the stream !n which khey were spawned. and die !n their Fvrn to be throw. Into the great F.uc!b!e which converts matte: into lie n another form. Nature has pro- k!ded. most Mbe.a!!y, tood-stu!t AS !n many other cases man Is he worst enemy of this fish. Nature Jailed to take his efficient methods pf fishing into consideration when bhe balanced the scale Of supply and lemand and created the salmon to |neet 1t. She did not realize that folk bn the other side of the world were koing to consume Alaskan fish and khat those who sought them were totng to invent methods of catching Fhem which would mean their ex- Finction. But. if you had salmon for e meal today itsis quite proba ble Fhat 1t came from Alaska. It ccrtain- |y came from the west coast. If 1t vas canned any one of several hun- bred canneries along the coast line Pf Alaska furnished it. If it was fresh 1t had probably been caught | by an Alaskan fisherman, trans ported to fish packing plant where ! |t was taken into a room where the is constantly ten de- Erees below zero and there repeated |y dipped into water until it was not bnly frozen solid but there was a protecting glaze of ice on the out ptde of the body. Stacked up like cordwood in a corner of this room 1 Ehe fish awaited shipment in q cold | storage boat to a railroad point from which 1t was sent in cold storage | cars to the local deoler who sold it to you. It loses none of its flavor or freshness through this method of 
 Traps and Nets Used
 The salmon are caught in several ways. The majority of them do not ake hook in salt water: none of hem do after reaching fresh. Fish 'raps. similar to our pound .ncts," placed along shore, with leads out into the sea are a fav- ,rite method. Gill nets are also used. In this way of fishing a long net is lllowed to drift out from the boat With the tide. The salmon poke their leads through the mesh. catch their Etils and cannot withdraw Many rollers ply the bays and entries rom the sea. seeking the lordly King Salmon which will take a hook.