Alaska and the Panama canal . AN ALASKAN FISH-WHEEL. ON THE YUKON. seals, or fishing, of $6,000,000. Yet, almost every one thinks ofAlaska as only a cold, gold-producing country. Salmon fishing in the North Pacific Ocean has been muchmore profitable and certain of success than gold mining on theshore. Few people understand the peculiarities of the hatch in a fresh-water stream, go to the ocean and remainabout three years, then come back to the stream in which theywere born, deposit there their eggs or spawn, and die. Theydo not return to the ocean. No other fish is like the salmon
Alaska and the Panama canal . AN ALASKAN FISH-WHEEL. ON THE YUKON. seals, or fishing, of $6,000,000. Yet, almost every one thinks ofAlaska as only a cold, gold-producing country. Salmon fishing in the North Pacific Ocean has been muchmore profitable and certain of success than gold mining on theshore. Few people understand the peculiarities of the hatch in a fresh-water stream, go to the ocean and remainabout three years, then come back to the stream in which theywere born, deposit there their eggs or spawn, and die. Theydo not return to the ocean. No other fish is like the salmon inthis respect. I was much interested in what I was told by Bishop Roweof the Episcopal Church, who is known and loved all overAlaska. He considered fishing the chief necessary and per-manent industry of Alaska, especially for the poor people andnatives. He told me that unless the new Territorial Legisla-ture passed adequate protective laws, fishing in Alaska had ALASKA 57. A CANNING FACTORY AT PETERSBURG, ALASKA. seen its best days. He related to me how the first Legislature,that of the spring of 1913. had refused to pass a law prohibit-ing fishing by setting nets at the mouths of rivers up which thesalmon go to spawn. He hoped that the next Legislaturewould not be so shortsighted. The fishing industry of Alaska is assuming immense pro-portions. As an illustration, it may be mentioned that twenty-six new salmon-packing establishments were built in 1912, whilelarge additions have been made to the fleets engaged in thedeep sea and whaling industries. The salmon industry now extends from Ketchikan insoutheast Alaska, for a distance of 2,000 miles, following thegeneral course of the shore line, to Bristol Bay in Bering Sea, 58 ALASKA and at this time an unknown distance beyond, but not less than800 miles, both on the mainland and northwest of Nome andthe larger islands. Five species of salmon are used commer-cially, known respectively as, first, Coho or Sil
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Keywords: ., bookauthorboycewilliamdickson18, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910
