The Cordova daily times., 1918-02-19

depulS commissioner off fisheries. in Fsi4' and he reported his observations in part as follows:
 | ol the birds, probaBFy the most destructive to fish are the gulls and terms. It is difficult to state adeouate. ly the amount of damage they do and the menace they are to the future suu- ply oi salmon. To make this clear I VIII cite one experience T had in west. erh Alaska at Sierra Creek. I inspected this stream on a rainy day at low tide' and as I approached it At the mouth my attention was attracted by movement of birds in the water and along the banks. As drew nearer I sa" thousands of salmon fighting their way up the shallow stream, and among these fish were gulls, picking out first one eye and then the other. I flushed thlS enormous herd of gulls which, I DeIeFe' numbered at least ten thou sand. Going closer to the stream I Fouho humpback- salmon Hopping everywhere, with they eyes gone and otherwise mutilated from the picking and clawing of these birds. estfm. ated that on this creek alone there were within sight five thousand fish. either dead or dying, that had never l spawned. In southeastern Alaska, in Aiiah Lagoon, which is supplied by l Gray creek, I noted a similar condf- tion' and picked up many salmon that had been unable to get farther up the stream and were thus killed by gull or other enemies before spawning. I could enumerate many other instances which would merely confirm the result of these observations.
 There are other fish that suffer equally as much from the gulls. On the western coast near Sitka, and in other regions, earlier in the season, their prey is principally herring and their eggs. Many millions are sacrf- ficed in this way. It is beyond com prehension that this vast number of birds, so injurious to a great industry and so destructive to much valuable food, should be protected by law.
 "The terms are also very destructive, as their food in some localities, con sists almost solely of salmon eggs and young salmon. In several instances I observed them diving for these eggs during the spawning season, and upon killing them their crops would be found filled with eggs.
 Another destructive agent to sal mon is the American Merganser, com. monly known as the saw-bill I ob served many instances where this sal mon destroyer had dug up eggs under the water and had swallowed young salmon. 3
 Thspgh these gluttonous birds serve no known good purpose, at the present time the government protects them 1T the most careful manner. The Aleu- tian Islands in their entirety, the delta of the Yukon river, Forester Island and other places, have been set apart as bird reserves, making every one a criminal who puts foot on these sacred precincts without leave of the off cials Forester Island is a fair speci. ment, and the condition there prevail ing may be used as an illustration:
 The waters surrounding this island are, in season, we'll supplied with king salmon. This drew the trawlers, who established temporary homes on the island, where they sought shelter in storms. In the nesting season, in or der to vary their diet, which naturally consisted largely of fish food, these fishermen helped themselves to eggs from the nests of the wild birds with which the place swarmed. When the i weather was too stormy for fishing they would at times take down from 1 the nests and make themselves pill lows. When this was discovered the government put guard on the island and ordered everybody off except those who had written permission This permit is granted only on condi tion that the permittee does not dis turb the birds. If he does the permit | Is revoked.
 But it is not only on these reserves that it is unlawful to kill any wild birds, or to destroy their nests or eggs the law prohibits such acts for all parts of Alaska, except that ducks may be hunted in season, and the protec tion of eagles, ravens and cormor ants'~ has finally been removed. The destruction of these micreants may be accomplished by persistent hunting and invasion of the breeding grounds during the breeding season. Author 1ty to do so could probably be granted