Correspondence Regarding Japanese Fishermen

This file contains a textual record.

This correspondence predominantly relates to perceived foreign encroachment on BC and Alaskan coastal fishing, particularly in Bristol Bay, Alaska, USA. Also in this file is a US Senate speech by Lewis B. Schwellenbach, 8 March 1937, titled: “Foreign Invasion of American Fisheries” as well as other reports and publications mainly from American fishing industry magnate Miller Freeman. North American officials interpreted the encroachment by Japanese fishing operations as an attempt to “cripple” American and Canadian fisheries. [While none of these documents refer to Japanese Canadian fishermen, they prove to be quite interesting and reflect the tenor of North-American/Japanese relations the 1930s. It is easy to surmise that, amongst the general population, there could have been later conflation of international fishing rights with those of naturalized Japanese Canadian citizens.]

The Provincial Government of British Columbia created this archive.

The digital copies of the records were acquired by the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective between 2014 and 2018.

This record was digitized in full.