 Each year after the 1906 passage of the Alien Fisheries Act, the Bureau of Fisheries requested more personnel and vessels with which to fulfill its regulatory and law enforcement responsibilities.By 1911, when the Alaska fishing industry reached an annual value of nearly US$17 million, it had become clear that the United States Government needed to make radical changes in how it enforced the provisions of the Alien Fisheries Act, including funding the acquisition of a fleet of dedicated fishery patrol vessels under the Bureau of Fisheries.In 1912, the Bureau purchased the former cannery tender SS "Wigwam" to serve as its first fishery patrol vessel; renamed USFS "Osprey" – beginning a custom of naming the boats after birds common in Alaska – she was commissioned in 1913 and quickly added the protection of fur seal and sea otter populations to her responsibilities.