New Britain herald., 1929-11-01
FISHING ALASKA'S
 BIGGEST INDUSTRY
Bureau Of Fisheries Completes Study Of S54,00O,O0O Business

Washington, D. C., Nov. Com
 missioner Henry O'Malley has re-
 gently brought the headquarters of the |. s. bureau of fisheries back
 from it's annual 5,000-mile mgra- ton.
 Nominally the headquarters is in Washington. D. C.; actually the bureau headquarters is in Alaska
 during the summer months.
 :. The commissioner, sailing in the : bureau flagship in Alaskan waters, $, recommended orders to Washing . ton by wireless and cable. A mes " senger hurried each order to the 1. secretary of commerce for his sig x nature. The sccretary's approval. : returned 5000 miles by cable and . wireless, made the recommended : order an official regulation within i. less than r hours
 ' \ S54.0Co.000 Business g The Wh. pill for the protection . of Alaskan fisheries elavates the i. sercetary of commerce 10 master ;. and controller of commercial fish ' cries in the territory. He dictates [. the rules governing an annual busi- . ness amounting to S54.000.0O0. the ? largest single industry in Stewards : Ice Box"
 The condition of the fisheries is : outlined by Commissioner O'Malley. . who proxies every summer in ' Alaska for the secretary of com . merce, in a communication to the : National Geogra phic society. : The 1929 Alaska salmon pro- , duction," he said, reached 5.20O.- : 800 cases by August 31 and is well up to the mark of the five year . average. Alaska canned two one } pound cans of salmon for every man, woman and child in the . United States. Use of airplanes for patrolling , fishing waters, 12-hour service on official orders limiting or extending , fishing privileges. depending on the ! salmon funs, and the introduction to the United States market of the neglected chum salmon in fresh ] fillets, were features of the 1929 season.
 The |. S. bureau of fisheries in , Alaska must keep watch on a coast line longer than a line around the l earth at the equator. A force of , 200 representatives and a fleet of IT bureau-owned boats and numer- ous chartered craft carry on duties ranging from capturing poachers to } teaching school. Fisheries agents must actually count the salmon that go to the spawning grounds because the law requires that 50 l per cent of the salmon run must be permitted to pass the nets and i , traps of the commercial canneries. i ! During the past year counting weirs were established on nine | principal salmon rivers of Alaska ! At Chignik 1,5O0,OOO salmon swan through the bureaus gates. Decline in Fisheries Checked ,.sI "Conservation pays its own way3 in Alaska and has won wide pub lie approval" continued the con- 1 missioner. Under old loose regula- | tions the salmon pack of the ter
 
 the stricter control of the White bill of 1924 annual fishery figures roll up unmistakable evidence that the decline of Alaska's salmon fish cries has been checked. Five years operation have proved that the ter ritory. through scientific fisheries control. can stabilize it's chief in- I ,,,b al So,o00 men and provides two-thirds Of the worlds annual salmon catch.
 "The Yukon and the kuskokwm are open only 10 natives and resi- dent whites who catch the fish for food for themselves and their dogs. All salmon rivers of Alaska are closed to commercial fishing and l all fishing areas have a 36-hour l tweekly closed period. This period has been extended by order in many cases to as long as 96 hours week. fThe secretary Of commerce has tpower to prohibit commercial fish ling in any area; channel, estuary Tor bay. at any time. 1 AHI)idiltS 1bT IdtTbi "Airplanes proved so successful flor patrol work. especially in the twild, island d-flled pan handle coast. fthat the bureau will probably con- {tinue and extend this new service &Thousands of the square miles can be covered in brief time with an
 airplane and the observer high in
 the air can soe fishing gear in the vater much more readily than can a man from boat"
 While in Alaska, Commissioner 10 Matley also visited the Pribilof , tslands fur seal fishery, one Of the most successful and profitable en- l terprises conducted by any arm of the United States government serv- 1ce t
 Recovery of the Priblof islands E |saal fishery is one Of the most dra- l 1natic chapters in the whole story { cf conservation, says the commis- f eioner.
 This year the islands are send 1ng to the United States 40.oto 1 eealskins, the largest number oycr
 faken by the bureau. Thas- are
 ekins Of surplus males Since every
 nale seal presldes over g 'harem
 humbering from Otto 70 females.
 t is essential 10 reduce the num-