The Wrangell sentinel., 1929-02-14
A Letter From
 Henry O'Malley
Commissioner of Fisheries Replies To Letter From Wrangell Conner cial Club in Which Objections Were Made to Certain Sections of the New Fishing Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF FISHERIES

Subject February 2, 1929. Alaska Fishery Regulations.
 MT. J. w. Pritchett, Secretary,
 Wrangell Commercial Club,
 Wrangell, Alaska.
 Dear MT. Pritchett 1:
 The receipt is acknowledged Of your letter of the 21st ultimo, in re- gard to the Alaska fishery regula- tions which pertain to salmon troll ing and prohibit the use of hammer head traps.
 The prohibition on trolling in the southeastern Alaska area in the months of January, February and March, except by other than power boats, is considered step along the line of conserving the runs of king salmon. Evidences of depletion of this species have been apparent and as these fish are taken chiefly by trolling in southeastern Alaska, it was deemed necessary to apply sea- sonal restrictive measures. In addi- tion, a limit of not to exceed six trolling lines in use by a vessel at any one time was also incorporated in the regulations.
 It is true that the catch of salmon during the months of January, Feb ruary and March, is not particularly heavy. It is also true that some of the salmon which escape the fisher men during this closed period of three months may be caught after the season opens. Therefore, it is possi- ble that the corrective measures which now appear in the regulations will prove inadequate and that in due time it will be necessary to inn pose further restrictions such as, for example, extending the weekly closed period on trolling throughout the season, particularly during those periods when salmon are running the heaviest It might also become nec- essary to reduce the number of troll ing lines in use by fishing boat at any one time from six to four.
 In this connection the suggestion was made to this office recently by the Alaska Trollers' Association, Ket- chikan, that instead of the seasonal closing of three months regulation be promulgated prohibiting the talk ing of salmon under six pounds in weight. As bearing upon this the Bureau advised that similar laws have been tried in West Coast states and have not been satisfactory, chief ly for the season that the small fish can not be prevented from taking the hook and it is generally agreed that very few hooked fish survive. This is especially true when the fishermen follow the not uncommon practice of jerking the fish off the hook as soon as they see that it is undersize. Even if the fishermen were to carefully remove each small fish, the mortal ity would still be high and the loss of such fish would constitute a dis tinct economic waste because at this size a large portion will survive the natural hazards of life and attain maturity. It, therefore, seems clear that the proposed substitute regula- tion of prohibiting the capture of ,ol, hxrf Gi in weight is not feasible.
 Studies made of the salmon caught by trolling off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California, have shown conclusively that large num- bers of immature fish are caught. These are fish which if left alone would grow rapidly and most of them would survive and reach maturity. l These studies of the troll-caught salmon have also shown among other things that the fish caught early in the season, May and June, consist in large part of individuals which would not mature during the year in which taken. Later Tn the season, July ana August, the catch consists chiefly of maturing fish. On this account state authorities have made an effort to limit trolling to the months in which relatively few immature fish are
 caught. If action along this line is
 undertaken in Alaska it will prob ably mean extending the weekly
 close period from 36 hours to 60
 hours, and possibly, applying other
 restrictive measures.
 The regulations now effective in
 Alaska in respect to trolling are con-
 sidered as in the nature of begin
 ming along the line of properly con l,aryipo fha kipp aaImon fishery III