The Alaskan., 1927-08-05
SHALL WE HAVE REAL
 CONSERVATION
By HERBERT K. VERTREES, Secretary of Pike County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of
 America, Pittsfeld, Illinois

of the Izaak Walton League of
 America, Pittsfeld, Illinois
 .. (Contnued from last week..
 In order to show just what kind of conservationists MT. Hoover and MT, O'Malley were, it will only be necessary to refer to the figures which appear in the results of the salmon fishing season. The results were published by the Department of Commerce, so they will probably be satisfied with their own figures. The record of the Cook Inlet sec tion of the reservation for 1923 shows that ten canneries were al lowed total pack limit of 208,00O cases, while the actual pack was SS,937 cases. This is much less than one-half of their allotment Cook Inlet was scraped from end to end for red salmon, and residents of the Inlet section reported that few, if any fish escaped to the spawning beds. The tabulated report of the Department of Commerce shows three large canneries operated ill Chignik Bay in 1923 and that each was limited to 50,OOO cases, or a total of 150,000 cases. The most that was caught by any one of these three canneries was 23,3O9 cases. The three canneries caught total of 69,SS6 cases. Thus with intens- i've fishing the Chignik packers could not catch one-half of the amount that was allotted them by the Department of Commerce.
 The Government documents prove that the Department does not prac- tice real conservation, but that it helped the Fish Trust which was de- stroying the salmon fisheries.
 One incident of the monopoly serves to show the general ruthless regard for public rights in the ad- ministration of the fishery reserva- tion by the Fish Tust and the Bu- reau of Fisheries. Two young men who had fished independently at Karluck in the season of 1922, ap- piled for permission to fish there in 1923, but were refused on the ground that the fish belonged to the Trust. These two young men were fishing in Alaska when the war broke out and both entered the ser vice, one in the Army and one in the Navy, and at the close of the war they both returned to fishing. The right of fishery that had been exercised after the war was taken from them and given to the fish Trust. They gave all to the service of their country, and were certain ly entitled to protection of their rights by the Government they had served.
 All of these unjust and un-Ameri- can conditions were brought to the attention of our Congress by MT. Dan A. Sutherland, and he deserves much praise for his courage and his perseverance in his successful fight for the protection of the Alas kan salmon fisheries. It was be- cause of his efforts that Congress made new law for the protection of the Alaskan salmon fisheries This law, H. R. 8143 was approve. June 6, 1924. It provides strong protection for our Alaskan fisheries, so that these resources are now be- ing conserved. It will not be pos |sible for any private monopoly to secure exclusive rights to these fish cries. It also provides that no ci- tizen of the United States shall be denied the right to fish in any of the waters where fishing is allowed.
 Some one may suggest that this article is eXaggerated or untrue