The Cordova daily times., 1922-01-31
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1922
HATCHERY CERTIFICATES

During the season of 1921 the Alaska Pack CTS Association, in it's canneries within the Third division of Alaska, packed 628,666 cases of canned salmon and 561 barrels of 200 lbs of salted salmon. Of these 5O0,767 cases and 561 barrels were packed in the vicinity of Bristol bay and 127, ,S89 cases on Kodiak island. The federal license tax of four cents per case and ten cents per barrel amounts to $25, ,2O2.74 Did they pay that amount? No. The company maintains a salmon hatchery somewhere in Southeastern Alaska and it has turned in as part of it's cannery tax certificates from the First division purporting to show that during the year the company had matched and re leased F, ,35OO0 salmon fry. This relieved the company from the payment of $6,95O of the tax.
 During the same year the Northwestern Fisheries Company, in it's cannerles i'll the Third division of Alaska, packed tatol of 176,554 1-2 cases of canned salmon, of which the Bristol bay region, and the remainder in their two canneries Kodiak island The federal tax of four cents per case on the pack of this company abounts to $7, 7,0621o. Did they pay that amount? No, not cent. This com panv also operated a hatchery last year some where in Southeastern Alaska, and in lieu of payment presented First division hatchery certificates purportng to show that the hatch cry operated by this company had liberated 19,913OO0 salmon fry, by means of which the company not only liquidates it's entire can nerv tax for the veer 1921, but also has a bal nnce of $50302 to apply on it's tax for the coming season..
 It is now generally conceded that the releas ing of salmon fry as practiced by these hatch cries is absolutely worthless so far as replen ishing the salmon supply. Probably not more than one in ten thousand reaches the sea. and the proportion of these to reach maturity is small
 The two companies took from the waters of Bristol bay and Kodiak island at a very con- servative estimate over 9,700,O00 mature sal mon, allowing 12 fish to the case and 70 to the barrel They returned to the water in the shape of fry about four times that number of fish, only small proportion of which will become mature, and for this they are credited nearly $15,000 on their taxes
 Admitting for the sake of argument that the the fisheries, if it is true that salmon return to the streams in which they are matched, it is very evident that salmon matched and fry leased in the streams of Southeastern Alaska will not benefit in the least or aid in replen- ishing the waters of Bristol bay and Kodiak island. In other words more than 9,O00,0O0 sal mon taken from these waters depicting them to that extent that the waters of South eastern Alaska might benefit
 As matter of fact the releasing of these fry is of doubtful benefit at best, and the prac- tice of issuing hatchery certificates to be~used toward the payment of license taxes should be abolished If hatcheries are of use in replen- ishing the waters with salmon let the federal government or the territorial government oper- ate them, keeping the small salmon until they are large enough to care for themselves, and let the canneries pay their taxes in full. Fur ther, in all fairness, these hatcheries should be so distributed that all sections may benefit alike from their operation.
 This is matter which those who seek to represent the territory in Congress or in the