The Daily Alaska empire., 1928-02-09
TRADE VOLUME
 FOR LAST YEAR
 UNDER NORMAL
Total Commerce for Year Worth $92, ,781, ,976-
 Exports Lead

1 Commerce between Alaska and the States in 1927 had total declared value of $92,781, 976. according to the annual Customs ] Report issued today by J. c. Me Bride. Collector for the District of Alaska. The outgoing com merce, including minerals. ex- ceeded the inbound by $21,473,- 96O.
 Shipments made to the States were valued at $57,077,96S, in- cluding merchandise returned and foreign products. The. inbound commerce totaled $35,604,00S.
 Heavy Fish Decline
 Fisheries products for the year were valued at 5,44S,367, as compared to $56,57S,726 in 1926. Copper ore shipped during the year aggregated. SS,S4S tons worth $S,5O9,S7S as compared to lSz,36S tons worth $10,771,799 in 1926. In the latter year the copper content was 72,059,6S0 pounds while in 1927 it was but 61,463,693 pounds, Indicating a lower grade of metal mined last year. Gold and silver shipped during the year amounted to $5,754, 4,01S as compared to $6,1Ws4F2 in i1926, both figures including a small quantity of foreign produce tion. The domestic production shipped out was $416,104 less than the previous year.
 The fur industry was the only one in the Territory that showed a substantial gain. Fur ship ments for the year. were valued at S4,3S5,926, including fur seal and fox pelts from the Pribilof Islands. In 1926, the value Of all fur shipments was $2,9S5,- 703, revealing a gain of $l,400,- 223 in 1927.
 Report Is Analyzed In issuing the annual statis- tics, Collector Mcbride noted the "regrettable decrease of $23,S73,- |032 in the value of shipments from the Territory but called att tention to the fact that there was balance of trade in favor, of the Territory amounting to $21,1S5,249, despite the unfav- orable year. As shown by detail- ed statistics, the loss in value of shipments from Alaska. = he said, was primarily due to the falling off in the siyr of the salmon run as whole. While regarded by the. Bureau of Fisheries as a temporary fiuctuation comparable to that which takes place in fishing activities everywhere from time to time, nevertheless 1t has found it desirable to take further precautions for the conservation of the salmon.
 Size of Salmon Pack
 Continuing MT. Mcbride said: "Preliminary figures of the De7 partment of Commerce indicate that the total pack of canned salmon in Alaska in 1927 was approximately 3,540,000 cases, as compared with 6,652,8S2 cases in 1926 and 4.459,937 in 1925. The pack in 1927 was approximately 46 per cent less than the 1926 pack, which was the largest in the history of Alaska. The l927 pack was about 19 per cent less than the previous five year aver age, according to the Bureau Of Fisheries.
 Shipments of cured or pre- served herring also showed a de- cline in 1927 of 2,422,S72 pounds and $52.695 in value from 1926. Shipments of fish fertilizer, meal and. oil. which are almost en- tirely products of the herring industry, also show decline of LS793,7O2.
 Shipments of fresh or frozen halibut show an increase in 1927 over the. previous year of 2.460,- 794 pounds and $259,503 in value. Small increases will also be noted in shipments of fresh and cured salmon, as well as all other fresh and cured fish.
 Copper Ore Cheaper
 Copper ore, which ranks sec ond in the exports of the Terri tory. show a decline in 1927 from 1926 of 10.595,9s7 pounds land $2.261,921 in value. A con- siderable part of the decrease