The Wrangell sentinel., 1926-12-02
REED DEFENDS OPPOSITION TO HERRING
 REDUCTION PLANTS

Editor Sentinel
 l have just read an article in the Pacific Fisherman (page ' of the November issue1 in regard to the herring situation.
 Now that the Pacific Fisherman has had it's say I should like to of fer few words in defense of the stand which the residents of the Territory have taken on this matter.
 In the first place the author of the article intimates that we are hollering before we are hurt. He asserts that no definite knowledge is available on the subject.
 Now I am a troller. and I have been in the game since May, 1913, and I have fished Chatham Straits every year since that date. Tn 1916 and 1917 l was employed by the Alaska Herring and Sardine Go. of Port Walter, Baranof island, and have made a careful study of the herring and I find since 1916 the herring are getting scareer every year. The season of 1925 the her ring were so scarce in Tibencoff Bay and Pillar Bay and all along the shores of Chatham Straits. l could not secure enough for bait In the gill nets which every one is equipped with: nets ranging from 8 to IS fathoms long hung meas ure. This year, 1926, there were periods of from one to two weeks at a time that we never saw a her ring in Tibencoff and Pillar bays. Tibeneoff bay is one of the princi- pal bays for herring and salmon and halibut fishing. There are one thousand fishermen who will bear witness that these statements are true
 There are now in the Territory of Alaska 19 herring reduction plants owned and operated by non residents They hire their crews both for their plants and fishing crews outside the territory, and they are paid off outside also, which is no benefit at all to the residents of Alaska. These plants when operated at full capacity consumes on an average of 100 to 150 barrels of herring an hour and operating day and night it is amazing the amount of fish requtr- ed to keep them going.
 Now in the Territory of Alaska there are some three thousand res ident fishermen owning their own boats and gear, the valuation of boats and gear being over s2000 each. and it is very essential to those fishermen that the herring be left alone on the fishing ground which is the natural feeding places for the king salmon and halibut, for if the herring are talk en the salmon and halibut will leave. These three thousand fish ermen and their families depend solely on the fish for their liveli- hood and at the rate that the her ring have been taken in the past ten years to satisfy the reduction industry, in two or three years at the most the fishing industry of Alaska is at an end; these three thousand men and their families are busted and the chief assets of our country have been destroyed It is far better to sacrifice the fertilizing industry now than to sacrifice the fishing industry as a whole at the end of two or three years, which is sure to happen un- less drastic measures be instituted to stop this wasteful method.
 On page of the same issue of The Pacific Fisherman there is an article entitled. Fish Oil for Edi- ble Purposes" I wonder if the au- thor ever visited a herring reduc- ton plant in operation. The fish are held in bins until decomposi- ton sets in as the oil will not separate until this stage is reach ed. Meantime the blow flies are swarming on the fish and when they go to the press they are a creeping, crawling mass of maggots which I am sure are not fit for food for human consumption. If anyone doubts this statement just visit one or more of the plants situated on the shores of Alaska waters.
 Hoping you give this letter space in the columns of your most valuable paper so that the reading public may know the true condi- tions that exist, am,
 Sincerely,
 n