The Wrangell sentinel., 1940-06-21
ICKES OPPOSES BOAT SEIZURE
 LAW CHANGE

WASHINGTON. June 21-After the bill. H. R. 5472. to prevent sci zure of boats and gear for alleged violation of fishing laws and regu- lations without conviction of the Op- orator of the offense involved had passed the House by unanimous consent it was referred to the Sen ate Committee on Commerce. That Committee received a request from the Department of the Interior that no action be taken on the bill until the Department had an opportunity to report upon it. Two representa- tiyes Of the Bureau of Fisheries ap peared at the hearings on the bill before the House Committee on Mer- chant Marine and Fisheries and said personally and unofficially that they had no objections to it's enact ment. but they then had no author ity to speak officially for the De- partment.
 Ickes' Statement
 The report from Secretary Of the Interior Ickes has now been received by Senator Josiah " Bailey, Chair man of the Senate Committee on Commerce. Secretary Ickes recom- mends against enactment of the bill. The following is quoted from his letter to Senator Bailey;
 Tt appears to me highly desirable that any further action on legisla- tion having the effect of H. R. 7542 be deferred until the next session ofI Congress. Since the regulation of the Alaska fisheries was transfer red to the jurisdiction of this De- partment on July 1. 1889, l have been studying carefully the ques- tions involved in enforcement of the laws and regulations governing theI commercial utilization of these nat ural resources. The coast and coast al waters of the Territory, in which this industry is carried on, cover al vast area and the enforcement of necessary conservation measures isl a difficult one, particularly with al minimum of personnel and equip-I ment available therefor Only al small proportion of the violations can be prosecuted, and as in tool many of the most fragrant viola tions there is insufficient evidence procurable by the enforcement of-l ficers to support prosecution. Therel is no disposition on the part of this Department to prosecute needlessly minor and perhaps unintentional violations of the law or regulations, but unless there is a sufficient means of enforcement available toI the Department the serious viola tions which adversely affect neces- sary conservation of the fisheries cannot be checked
 "There are certain phases of the problem of enforcement which l del sire to consider with the Attorney General, as the detection and prose- cution of violations involve the ac- tivities of both Departments. feel that after such consideration by the two Departments, and after the fur ther experience of this seasons en- forcement in Alaska the Depart ment will be in position to recom-I mend definitely to the Congress such changes in the law governing such enforcement as it may find appro-I priate. I believe that there is not att present any urgent need for the pro- posed legislation, inasmuch as thereI appears to have been no abuse of the right of seizure and forfeiture and I have no reason to anticipateI any such abuse. In fact, I am in formed that this remedy has been used only occasionally in the past.
 After reading the Secretarys re- port on the bill, Delegate Dimond made the following statement:
 Dimond's Position
 "The Secretary evidently has not read the hearings on the bill be- cause if he had read the testimony given at the hearings he would not have said: there appears to have been no abuse of the right of sci zure and forfeiture and I have no reason to anticipate any such abuse. In fact, I am informed that this remedy has been used only occasion ally in the past The hearings clear ly showed abuse on a number of oc- casions and, although comparatively few seizures have been made the evil of the law is not so much in the number of seizures as in the com