The Wrangell sentinel., 1926-12-02
Opposition Organized

The earlier antagonism was not of a nature 10 have much weight, but the recent rapid increase in quantities of herring taken for re- auction seems to have caused many people in the territory to wonder whether there might not be danger of depletion; and the opposition has of late become rather vide spread in the territory apparently extending beyond the purely radi= cal element. This is indicated by a resolution recently adopted by the Wrangell Commercial Club, which has been widely distributed among territorial and federal off
 tals and legislators, in which it is asserted that the herring fisher ies are being rapidly depleted by .'wasteful methods that the her ring is the natural food of other fishes and is indispensable as hait. and urging that fishing for herring be limited to food and bait re- auirements and that reduction be prohibited. It is also urged that fishing be greatly restricted; that .mpounding. even for food pur- noses. be prohibited, and that gear be limited to gill nets.
 Action along similar lines was sIso taken by the Petersburg Conf mercial club. The Juneau Cham Der of Commerce was asked to foi- I9x su.t. a..a decided to make fur ther frgesti1a ion before acting. A leading part in the opposition is said to have been taken by one F. Reed. who is quoted as claiming that within a year or two the her ring supply will be exhausted.
 It does not appear that much definite and reliable testimony has been produced to show indica tions of the alleged depletion, while reports from producing dis triets show nothing to cause any reasonable alarm. It is apparently true that large herring were com paratively scarce in Southeast AL aska most of the season; but this las happened before, while they gre never very plentiful in this dis triet, and the general run of fish is zaid 10 have been approximately normal. In the areas to the west
  there are very few reduction plants and it is inconceiYable that the quantities taken there in the las few years have caused any deple- tion.
 Producers present various other arguments: citing the herring fisheries of Norway and the North Sea, which have been intensiyely s'shcd for hundreds of years, and for many years have supported an a1ormous reduction industry, with out visible signs Of depletion as- serting that there are herring hools of almost inealeuable mag nitude spread over the offshore banks of the North Pacific, and that periods of poor fishing are merely due to unaccountable fail ire of the fish to run in the GUS tomary waters along shore, or to lack of adaptability of fishing methods; and that whales in off shore waters consume far more herring than are now taken for all commercial purposes,
 P,oof, however, is lacking for most of the claims advanced either for or against the reduction lndus- try. There are plenty of asser- tions, theories and unfounded as. sumpti3ns; but definite knowledge Of the Alaska herring is sadly lacking. As to the extent of the resources-whether there is a! ready danger of over-fishing or whether the fishery might be de veloped to many times it's present magnitude-how widely the fish range, and causes of their migra- tions-on all these matters there are practically no reliable data. These and many other questions must be answered before the fish cry can be regulated on sound and constructive conservation ba- sis.
 There has already been consid- eeabla regulation, but it has been based mainly on superficial indi- oot;ODc and m one really knows