The Kusko times., 1924-06-28
Destroy tEt e Beiuga,
 Save. Alaska Salmon,
 Says Frank Joaquin

choeage Alaskan, from the pen of Frs.ak Joaquin, will be found most in- teresting and enlightaning;
 ''sn order to get at the facts regard ing the decrease of salmon in Alaskan waters since the advent of the can- nerias, we must first look at the situa- tiou as it was prior to that time.
 ''Rg & careful survey of conditions as they riust have existed up to the time when raan first began to catch these fish by the hundreds of thousands, we come to the conclusion that while they were abundant in most of the rivers, they must have always had hard fight for their lives, as their enemies were many. They were preyed upon by the beluga and the seal as they made their way from the sea into the riyers, and those that were fortunate enougl to pass this first barrier and work their way to the spawning grounds had the grayling, trout and other smaller fish to contend with. These smaller fish live to great ex- tent 1pon the spawn of salmon during the spgwning season.
 ''Th D comes the fishermen with many opg nets and traps with long leads catching thousands and thou sands of fish before, they can get to the spawIing grounds. With this introduc- hn in hunters began on an appalling scale.
 "TAe situation is nostalarming when one s.ops to consider that the greatest of Aaska's industries is being de- stroyed. AS an emergency measure, MT. Hoover has set aside 8 great part of our fishing waters as reservations. By SC doing the Bureau of Fisheries can, io some extent, limit the catch of salrpn. Permits granted within the eseuvations limit the catch to speci- 6ed humber of cases and prohibit fish ing by those not holding permit. At best this plan is only an expedient until something better can be evolved. In the meantime the balance of power still remains againt the salmon. In the mind5 of Alaskans this present system is long way from a solution of the problem, and at the rapid rate at which the fish are being exterminated it is to be hoped much more satisfactory and eflicient means of conservation will soon be folind.
 Mir. Dan Sutherland. our Delegate to CoAgress, is now working to secure Legislation that will save the salmon industry from destruction. According to hiS plan, traps would be prohibited entirely aad salmon fishing would not he allowed within l500 feet of the mouth of any river or within the waters of any river. While this plan would check the taking of fish in such large nume bers, at the same time it would not re- lieve phe situation to the extent neces- sary. because the beluga and seal and also the small fish enemies still remain.
 If fishing by lman were prohibited entirely, it would take years before any increase would be noticeable-in fact there is 8 question as to whether without help there would ever be an increase to make up for the present state of.depletion.
 ''The one big help we can give the salmon is to destroy the beluga and protect ohat fish on the spawning srr0uudc from the srna1l fiSh
 ''In the Boring sea from early spring till fate in the fall, from the Alaska pe- ninsula to the Yukon river, thousands of beluga are feeding almost entirely on salmon. They are a marine animal of large size, living to 50 or 50 years of