MISCELLANEOUS

Crab products were prepared at two plants in southeast Alaska and two in the central area. Seventy-five persons were engaged in the industry, and the output consisted of 141,320 pounds of coldpacked crab meat, valued at $49,862, and 770 dozen crabs in the shell, valued at $1,615, a total value of $51,477, as compared with $39,929 in 1927.

The production of trout was 54,216 pounds fresh and frozen, valued at $6,195, and 35 cases, or 1,680 pounds, canned, valued at $210, a total of 55,896 pounds, valued at $6,405. Sablefish, fresh, frozen, and pickled, totaled 262,888 pounds, valued at $12,327. Other miscellaneous species were: Smelts, 21,403 pounds, valued at $2,355; flounders, 1,001 pounds, valued at $20; lingcod," 8,361 pounds, valued at $250; and rockfish 2,332 pounds, valued at $70.

FUR-SEAL SERVICE

The number of fur-seal skins taken at the Pribilof Islands in the calendar year 1928 was 31,099, of which 23,003 were taken on St. Paul Island and 8,096 on St. George Island. Of those taken on St. Paul Island, 14,584 were blubbered before salting.

To provide for the future breeding stock, 6,900 3-year-old male seals were marked and released on St. Paul Ísland and 1,952 on St. George Island, a total of 8,852. The marking was done by shearing a patch of fur, and on St. Paul Island 200 of the animals so marked were also iron branded for special observation later.

Computation of the number of animals in the fur-seal herd of the Pribilof Islands as of August 10, 1928, indicated that there were 871,513 seals of all ages and classes in the herd, an increase of 62,643 over 1927.

In the fiscal year 1929 two public auction sales of sealskins from the Pribilof Islands were held by the Fouke Fur Co., at St. Louis, Mo., and 245 Pribilof Islands sealskins were disposed of at special sales.

At the sale on October 15, 1928, 13,460 sealskins from the Pribilof Islands were disposed of for a gross price of $414,103.10. Of these, 7,174 skins dyed black brought $168,027; 5,623 skins dyed logwood brown (Bois de Champêche) brought $226,844.50; 647 dyed golden chestnut (Châtaigne d'Or) brought $19,230; and 16 damaged skins brought $1.60. The average price for regular skins of the black dye was $29.81 per skin, while the average for scarred and faulty skins dyed black was $17.05 and for No. 111's, $7.18. Average prices for logwood-brown skins were $51.35 for regular skins, $28.48 for scarred and faulty skins, and $5.95 for No. 111's. Skins dyed golden chestnut sold for an average price of $42.75 for the regular grade and $20.33 for scarred and faulty skins.

At the sale on April 8, 1929, 15,224 fur-seal skins taken on the Pribilof Islands were sold for a gross price of $469,442.50. Of these, 5,334 dyed black brought $114,973.50; 9,884 dyed logwood brown brought $354,456; and 6 miscellaneous skins brought $13. For the black-dyed skins the average prices were $33.92 for regular, $17

for scarred and faulty, and $2.80 for No. 111 skins. The logwoodbrown skins brought average prices of $48.28 for regular, $27.10 for scarred and faulty, and $3.14 for No. 111 skins.

The 245 skins, dyed logwood brown, sold at special sales during the fiscal year brought a total of $12,834.87. These sales were authorized by the Acting Secretary of Commerce.

There were also sold at public auction at St. Louis on October 15, 1928, 278 blue-fox skins and 15 white-fox skins taken on the Pribilof Islands in the season of 1927-28. The blue-fox skins brought $20,598, an average of $74.09 per skin, and the whites $692, an average of $46.13 per skin.

In the season of 1928-29 there were taken on St. Paul Island 79 blue and 8 white fox skins, and on St. George Island 465 blues and 1 white, a total of 544 blue and 9 white skins.

No changes were made in the regulations previously issued for the protection of fur seals and sea otters, nor in the regulations affecting walruses and sea lions.

The following table shows the results of fur-seal computations in the years from 1917 to 1928:

General comparison of recent computations of the seal herd on the Pribilof

Period from 1897 to 1910 the seal herds were exploited by private interests. In 1911 the Government assumed control and since then the herds have increased from 132,000 to 871,000

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

MINING IN ALASKA

Figures of the Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, show a total value of mineral output from Alaska since 1880, the earliest year for which records are available, to the end of 1928 of nearly $600,000,000. The following table gives a summary of production from the date of earliest record to the end of 1928:

Mines in Alaska are estimated by the Geological Survey in its preliminary statement to have produced minerals valued at $14,128,000 in 1928, as against $14,404,000 in 1927. A comparison of the production for the two years follows:

The total production of gold from Alaskan mines in 1928 is estimated at $6,775,000. This marks a noteworthy increase over the production of the preceding year and is attributable to increased output by both lode and placer mines. The greatest increase, however, came from lode mines, so that the ratio of the value of the gold produced by them to that of the gold produced by the placers seems to have been about 52.7 to 47.3. This is a rather significant change, because in 1927 the corresponding ratio was about 50 to 50, in 1926 it was about 44 to 56, and for the entire period that gold mining has been in progress in the Territory it has been 33 to 67.

The increase in the production of gold from the lode mines is attributable mostly to the greater output from properties of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co. in southeastern Alaska. The quantity of ore mined by this company appears to have been somewhat less than in the preceding year, but its gold tenor was much higher. No noteworthy new developments were reported at the other goldlode mines, but most of the properties that have been active during the last few years, continued operations. Gold mining at the three larger properties on Chichagof Island was carried on at a considerably reduced rate. The production from a number of small mines in the Hyder and Ketchikan districts was considerably larger than in 1927. In the Willow Creek district the gold-lode mines report a somewhat smaller output than in the preceding year and considerably less than formerly. The small gold-lode mines in the Fairbanks district report a considerable increase in their yield of gold. Several other small lode mines scattered widely through the Territory, but especially in Kenai Peninsula, near Nuka Bay and at Crow Creek, and in the Kuskokwim region near Nixon Fork report some

1 Estimate only.

production of gold, and prospecting was active at a number of other places.

The increase in production of gold from placer mines is attributable in most part to the greater output from the properties of the Fairbanks Exploration Co. in the Fairbanks district, which early in 1928 placed two of its large dredges in operation on Goldstream Creek and the Chatanika River and before the end of that season had finished a smaller dredge on upper Goldstream Creek and had begun mining with it. The beginning of production from this large project has not only resulted in greatly increasing the amount of gold mined in the district, but, what is perhaps even more significant, gives promise of a greater output in the succeeding years. So far as has been reported no other new dredges were constructed in Alaska during 1928, but several that were constructed in 1927 and operated only a short time during that year were running throughout 1928. A few of the dredges that formerly were active were idle during 1928, but on the whole all the dredges that produced much gold in 1927 were again active last year, and most of them report fully as large a production as in 1927. As a result approximately 64 per cent of the placer gold that was recovered in 1928 was mined by dredges.

The amount of gold produced from the placers that is mined by other methods than dredging seems to have been slightly less than that derived from such placers in 1927. No new finds of placer ground were made during the year that yielded any considerable amount of gold, and inevitably each year many of the known areas of placer are worked out. There still remain, however, large placer reserves that could undoubtedly be worked by companies having adequate capital and skilled engineering aid.

COPPER

The value of the copper produced from Alaskan mines in 1928 is estimated to have been $6,100,000. This marks a decrease of about $1,150,000 below the value of the copper produced by these mines in 1927 and a continuation of the decline in the production of copper in Alaska that has been more or less steadily in progress since 1923. In 1928, as in former years, practically all of the copper came from two mines near Kennecott, in the Copper River region, and from one mine on Latouche Island, in the Prince William Sound region. These mines alone, according to the published records of the Geological Survey, have yielded copper worth $200,000,000 in the 18 years or so that they have been actively developed.

In the vicinity of the known ore bodies at these mines extensive tests have been made to determine their extent and to disclose any other bodies. The extent of the deposits that are being mined has thus been closely mapped out. No notable new ore bodies are reported to have been discovered during the year. Although large parts of the known ore bodies still remain to be mined, they are being depleted each year, so that, unless new deposits are found, a still further decrease in the output of copper from Alaska is inevitable. That there are, in the Copper River region as well as in other parts of Alaska, other deposits that hold promise of profitable development