 In 1918, the Bureau of Fisheries augmented its fishery enforcement effort with a force of "steam watchmen," temporary employees who worked two to five months a year and kept a particular area under continuous observation; they also occasionally maintained lights and protected free-floating fish traps from drift.The stream watchmen sometimes provided their own motorboats.From an initial force of 10 men in 1918, the stream watchman force – which operated in both Southeast and Southcentral Alaska – grew to 59 men in 1922 and 220 in 1931.