The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-02-20

corresponding to the st. Jacob salmon
of the river Rhine"
18th. After examining the reports of
the Y. ). fish commissioners and the laws
OF the other states of the union and
other countries, your committee finds
that there Is not a single state in the
union which allows fixed contriyances of
any character whatever in the rivers for
the purpose of catching salmon; and
| other countries going so far as to forbid
IN addition to prohibiting the erection of
liked contriyances IN the river for catch
ing salmon, the erection of any fixed
| contrlvances for catching salmon at any
point on the sea coast within less dis
tance than three miles from the mouth
| of any river.
The u. S. fish commission in their re-
port of 1882 cites the following: I'VE
now come to fixed engines" which, to-
gether with pollution, share the unenvia-
BILE distinction of being the most de-
structive agency affecting the salmon
fishing. From the fact that in propor-
tion as the fish wheels and fish traps in
crease in numbers, the catch of salmon
constantly decreased, your committee are
forced TO the conclusion that to those
methods of fishing, more than any other
cause, the decrease of the salmon fishing
industry is directly traceable; for as
long as the simpler and original methods
Of fishing, the industry was on the in
crease. the poor men had an opportunity
to earn q livelihood, the channels of the
river were not obstructed, there was no
need of any hatchery and the material
| interests of the state, as far as the fish
| ing industry was concerned, were con-
/ stantly growing.
Your committee finds that the fish
which are of merchantable value for
| food are caught by the gill net method of
| fishing, the meshes being nine inches in
| diameter cannot hold a small fish; the
small fish which are not of any mer-
chantable value for canning and can
only be used for manure or in the manu-
factory of ammonia are caught, along
with a small per cent of large fish by the
wheels and traps, which traps, as we
have mentioned before, are owned prin-
cipally, if not entirely by residents OF
Washington territory; and your com.
mittee cannot see the wisdom of appro-
priating the sum of $4,000 per year for q
fish commission and an additional sum
of the same amount or more for the pur'
pose of Matching and of furnishing tC
those traps and wheels such a large
amount of small fish, when those same
small fish never get a chance to react
the sea, but the most of them get caught
before they reach the age of ten months.
On the question of recompensing any
of the owners of traps or pound nets
which have been placed in the river
where the same are hinderance to navi
CATION or which occupy any portion oi
the river to the exclusion of other means
of fishing, or which have been put thert
| INV T,aprouS that nra mot rinarian nwnaFq
your committee have authority for say
ing that all such structures are "purpes
lures" and therefore illegal. and the own
ers thereof canhot recover anything
whatever for such contrivances, they be
ing from the beginning unlawful struc
lures, and these trap men by thus occu
pying the said bay in the said river, a
your committee have tried to explain
occupy it to the exclusion of every on
else. They seem to have proceeded OF
the plan of might makes right"
On this subject Maj. Powell, captain o
the U. S. engineers, speaks as follows
"The whole river is public property, an(
it appears to me no one has any right t.
occupy to the exclusion of others, ex
cept by proper authority. Even bridge
and the locations of wharves are regu
lated by the state, or the United States
and bridges and wharveS are for public
use, while fish traps are wholly private
When corporation situated in the coun
ty of Clatsop desire to erect and build 1
railroad and find it necessary to erect {
bridge across the body of water known a
"Young's bay" in order to build anC
maintain such road, it finds it mus
come to this body to get such permission
but the trap men have not had the grace
to ask for any authority to put in thei
traps, but have covered the river, for {
space of about eighteen miles square
and have placed them there in detianC,
of both the authority and rights of thi
state and the U. s., and in defiance o
the whole commercial world.
1t is amazing that such unlawful act
has not met with the proper rebuke Ions
before this time. 1t can only be explained
upon the presumption that this question
has not been understood by the peopl
generally, or that the trap men useC
some unlawful influence in former ses
sions of the legislature, as is shown by tn
supreme court of this state. And you
commettee believe that the time ha:
come that this great industry should b.
protected. The state of Oregon can no
very well afford to even experiment witt
an industry that brings into this state a.
annual revenue of over S2,000,000 ant
which has brought in the past, and vii
again, if the same is fostered and caret
for at your hands, over S3,0O0,000 annu
ally. You protect by laws, game of vari
Gus kinds, more for the purpose of af
fording sport to hunters than for an,
benefit the people of the state of Ore
gUn derive from the production of sucl
game; will you do less for an industry o.
the magnitude of millions of dollar
whereby thousands of men earn an hon
est living? The deer is no less a pro
duct of ma ture than the salmon. VIII,
protect one and not the other? Can thit
state afford to see hundreds of peopl
leave its borders who have been and still
are dependent on this industry for thei
livelihood; and that, too, in order to feet
and fatten few trap owners in the ter
ritory of Washington? And your com
mittee has always been Of the opinion
that one of the fundamental planks O
the Republican party is protection o
our home industry.
The report and the bill were, ON mo
ton, laid on the table.