The Cordova daily times., 1920-12-20
Alaska Fish Commission
 Files Report With Riggs
 Asking Greater Authority

| to continue as valuable asset and play it's part in the upbuilding of the territory, then it must be handled with the greatest care, with due con | sideration for all the various clements entering into it's economy and such an | adjustment of output with provision for maintenance of supply as will fully guarantee it's stability. A careful sur vey of the industry, convinces one that to preserve the integrity of the business there must be a curtailment of operations to produce the desired serious contraction in the revenue of the territory and some other means must be provided to make up more than the difference. The public ex- penses are growing yearly and there must be an increased yearly expendi- ture for the care of and building up of the fisheries for many years to come. It is an important question in any event. The extravaganza of the past must be met by economy in the future.
 l The profits from the various forms of the fishing industry have been, at times, unusually large. In the Boring sea and western Alaska operations the fishermen particularly, have often, in less than sixty days of actual fish ing, earned more money than in the work of year at home. Hundreds of seine boats and trolling boats come | to these waters for two or three months in the year, each taking it's 1 quota of the natural wealth and leav- ing practically nothing in exchange. There should be remedy for this and some way must be devised to confine the fishing privileges, where possible, to bona fide residents so that a larger portion of the wealth of the territory l be retained and utilized for further development.
 While new and proper legislation is being delayed the present laws and regulations should be enforced. The controlling authority has been made quate in the extreme. If proper en- forcement had been obtained the in dustry would not be facing it's exist | ing serious situation. One result of the failure of law enforcement has been the pilfering of fish traps, com monly called piracy. Those engaged in this nefarious occupation have req soned that it was no more of a crime to take fish from the traps than for the traps to violate the law by ille- gal fishing While one crime does not justify another, still criminality must be eliminated from all classes, as violations of the law and regula- tiOns by trap owners, are seized upon with avidity, as an excuse by the SO called pirates It is believed that some cannery operators must be in league with the fish pirates, other wise there would be no sale for stol- en fish. There have been many in dictments for illegal fishing and a number have been found guilty; there have been convictions for pir- ! acy. but it would have been far bet ter to have adequate enforcement of the laws through patrol and preven- 1 tive efforts than to have so many vio- lations, with a comparatively small | percentage of detection and convic- 1 tion.
 | Alaska has handicap of weather conditions as related to artificial pro pagation in comparison with the Pa cific states, but has much in it's favor | in the way of unobstructed and un- used streams and unpolluted waters.
 FAILURE OF HATcHERlEs
 The law of 1906 was designed, among other things, to provide for the repletion of the salmon supply by en- couraging artificial propagation and a number of the larger operators, in good faith, and at a net annual loss to themselves built and operated TITY AND VALUE OF SALMON TAI u