The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-10-07

wo years Investigating the crab fishing and canning
 possibilities in waters surrounding the Territory and l declares that the crustaceans would yield an annual $50000OO return if we would only take ad- vantage of their presence.
 Certainly, not ones to argue with the scientists We recognize that there is tremendous waste in potential vtamin pills when fish entrails are dropped under cannery docks We know that
 medical and chemical elements in our kelp beds
 worth millions of dollars if only some company will develop processing plants. And it is certainly no
 ecret to fishermen that the old Boring Sea has lot of crabs her bottom.
 What do need is lot publicity about the undeveoped resources of Territory. Then, maybe, need active, well informed group of agents for Alaska located in the principal sec tions of the United States, with exact information
 Alaska and Alaskan opportunities, to act in an advisory capacity with moneyed groups, who might be interested in putting up of their cold cash to develop industries along colder coast lines.
 One reason why we are more interested in the results of this crab investigation than in many of the other probes into economic potentalities is because the crab quest of the Fish and Widlife Service has received publicity than is generally given other Alaskan industrial probes Around the Puget Sound country, newspapers headlines the nouncement that government expedition had de- clared crab canning in Alaska is potential $5000000 industry. With this sort of public display, we be-
 eve the message about our crabs may reach a lot of who will think seriously about financing crab canning plants.
 Certainly the Fish and Widlife Service men who spent two years on the crab inquiry have every for. telling the world that here is real n dustry crawling around the floor of coastal waters and waiting development. The first year they experimented with canning methods at sea rT,o year, the investigators went crab hunting earnest, in endeavor to locate spots where the most crabs appear.
 It the big King crabs in which the gov- ernment men were interested Canned for number of years by Japanese floating plants operating off the Alaska coast the King crab is a big fellow, sometimes reaching six feet from tip to tip. Not like the softer meat of the Dungeness variety of crab, found on Puget Sound and in some sections of Southeast Alaska, the meat of the King crab has firm, lobster-ike quality.
 Although the investigators found the big crabs most abundant in Boring Sea- they also found in the waters of the Shumagn area, Kodiak Island and Cook Inlet in quantities sufficient to support commercial canning plants To lesser degree, they were found in Prince William Sound and Yakutat Bay.
 Another thing the investigators pointed out was that the best crab fishing is to be found immediately preceding and following the salmon fishing season. In this way, many plants might operate early and late on crab and the silver horde" during the fishing season This would longer seasons for fishermen and cannery workers and larger pay rolls
 At any rate, let us hope that, that the commercial importance of our crabs has been offci ally discovered, someone will want to capitalize them and will start Alaska King crab canning industry, which will be developed eventually, why not now.