Douglas Island news., 1915-02-03
Other Side of the Question


 The Southeastern Alaska Fisher mems Association, bitterly opposed to fish traps, issues the following state. ments in support of its claims
 Fish traps should be prohibited be- cause they are rapidly exterminating millions of valuable food fsh-the common property of all the people of the United States. By their use a few people, or corporations, monopolize and wantonly destroy this food provision of nature, regardless of the future, to gratify their desire to grab all they can in the shortest possible time They un- hesitatingly spend thousands of dollars to prevent Legislation which would protect the fisheries of Alaska from their destructive greed. For the past seven years, because of the use of fish traps, the abundant supply of salmon in Alaskan waters has become so de pleted that unless the congress of the United States immediately makes and enforces necessary laws for it's preser- vatiou the salmon will be a thing of the past and this great industry lost to the people forever
 There are two kinds of traps, station ary and floating, both equally destruc tive 10 the Ash. The floating traps can be moved from place 10 place by tow boats of sufficient power. The super inteudent of one of the largest canner- ies in Alaska has a patent on ths float iDg traps by which be collects a royalty of several hundred dollars a season on each trap
 The piles of the stationary traps are driven as deep as necessary to be se- cure and usually stand 30 feet above the bottom of the sea-about two feet above higb water mark. They extend from the shore as far out into the water as the fish are known to run, so they prevent any fish from passing them and reaching their spawning grounds. Traps fish steadily night and day aud catch all kinds of fish, none of which are desired by the salmon canneries but salmon, SO millions of dead Ash are thrown back into the water every sea son when the scows are unloaded at the canneries. For this reason alone, if for no other, traps should be prohibited. After the 6sh are taken from the traps they die in 15 minutes, hours before they reach the canneries. Trap owners state that trap fish are fresher than seine fish. The law requires that fish be canned not later than 4S hours after being taken from the water and can ming com panies, as a rule, do not want to can fish until they have been out of the water several hours, because until they have been, it is hard to put them through the machinery used in can hing, neither are they as easily cooked.
 There is no waste in seine fishing be cause the fishermen only set their seines when they see school of salmon jumping, funing or massing in the water. On rare occasions wben few fish of other varieties are caught with the salmon they are always in the bot tom of the seine and the fishermen turn them back alive into the water after brailiug out the salmon.
 The average fall from high water 10 low water is b feet When a trap is full of fish, as soon as the tide falls the weight of those on top smothers those underneath, the skin is worn off to the flesh and the eutrails forced out In their in fectual attempts to get out they often wear their noses off beating them against the web or wire. Some varieties die of fright when trapped. Many traps hold from 3O,OOO to 6OO,OOO fish at one time. In the summer of 1913 the traps caught so many fish that even the cauueries whose capacity is ! 254.OOO and 168,OOO cans a day could not use them, which caused a frightful waste of food fish, Traps are a menace to navigation, great danger to small boats when the fishing season is over, as no lights are kept upon them.
 Traps have to be reconstructed every season, SO their abolishment would not be an investment loss as their owners falsely claim. Also they have no right to place them in Alaska waters, as the ! U. s. Navigation laws and the Alaska Code under Transportation" section 57 definitely forbid it.