The Alaskan Salmon

Abstract

IN an article of exceptional interest contributed to o*o the Scientific Monthly for February, Prof. Barton W. Evermann, an American ichthyologist of eminence, asks this question: Can the Alaskan salmon fisheries be saved? These Pacific salmon are of economic value for the whole world. The first cannery was erected and operated in 1878, and by 1918 the number had grown to 135. The pack was 8159 cases in 1878, and in 1914 about 2,500,000, the highest figure yet reached. In 1919 the total pack had been reduced to about 1,250,000 cases, and there is every reason to fear that the decrease is progressive. The most fertile fishery in the world is thus in danger of practical extinction (from the commercial point of view, at all events) owing to ruthless exploitation unchecked by legislation and almost unguided by State-directed investigation.