The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-09-21
Hearing on Regulations Is Concluded Here-1raps
 Are Sill Issue

Yesterdays hearing on commer- cial fishing regulations, conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Senate Chamber here. closed with trollers having their say mainly directed at the fall closed period.
 Buyer E. E. Engstrom and troll CTS Elmer LindStrom, 1yer Skat- tenn and Carl Jensen all argued that if the fall closure is designed to protect late echoes, it is not needed. Fishing is good at this time of the year for kings, they said, and it is easy to avoid taking echoes while fishing for kings, as the latter are caught at lower depths.
 Engstrom promised cooperation Of buyers in refusing to purchase CO., hoes if the trollers could be per mitted to fish kings during the period now closed between the end of the summer season and the open ing of the fall. He also held that the present fall opening is too late to fish chums. The season for them should be while they are run ming, from October l to l5. Taking of echoes should be prohibited af- ter September 20, he said.
 Late Fall No Use
 The trollers held that the late fall season is of no use, as the weather is generally too bad to al- low fishing.
 Seton Thompson, Assistant Chief l65ff zfss.siax1 fyisl4c4 res, conuucring the hearings for the Fish and Wild life Service, asked Engstrom if the kings would not still be around to be caught the next sprng? The answer to that was no.
 The trollers also said kings were plentiful this year, which they laid to the comeback of the herring. Engstrom was in agreement with the expressed F&WL position of not changing herring regulations in Southeast Alaska.
 Skattem and Chris Jennings representative of the trollers union, brought up the question of halibut caught incidental to trolling for salmon and asked that trollers be treated the same as black cod fish ermen and be permitted to sell such halibut in proportion to their salmon catch-instead of cutting the halibut off to waste as now Though halibut is outside the province of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Thompson said he would pass the testimony along to the International Fisheries Commission, which sets halibut regulations.
 Other testimony during the after noon session consisted mainly of questioning of morning witness Frank D. Price, Sitka fisherman, by William L. Paul, Jr, Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Marine Workers Union representative.
 Pauls questions brought answers supporting abolition of fish traps, which Paul made the main issue in his own testimony during the morning session.
 Summed up, Price recommend ed that traps be abolished, that seasons in the northern part of Southeast Alaska should not open before August 20 and that after that there should be no restrictions the remainder of the year. Bays should not be closed, he argued. Ii there's plenty of fish, seiners won't have to go into the creek mouths to get them. Weather itself would limit late fishing.
 Prices suggestion of pack limita- tions on quota basis was answered by Thompson that such procedure is not considered legal.
 Price argued that traps both de- plete and retard salmon runs Weekly closed periods, he held, dc no good-they merely school up the fish.
 If traps are to be permitted, he maintained, there is no conserva- ton and all regulations should be abolished to give everyone equa chance.
 With traps. .esis,~ Price favored re- turning to smaller purse seines length 200 fathoms, depth 250 mesh es, meshes four inches. There would be no need for drag seineE or extremely large gear, he held Only Half Problem During the morning, Paul hae given his conclusion that opening the seasons late is attacking only half of the problem. It would pro- tect the fish escapement before thu ] (Continued or Page Etght