The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-09-24
THOMPSON
 CONDUCTS
 HEARING
Meeting Takes Place Here Toddy-1949 Propos-
 aIs Are Given Out

The hearing of the proposed fisl,
 regulations for next season, which
 is presided owed by Seton Thomp- son, Chief of Alaska Fisheries, is underway today in the Grade School Auditorium. Over 40 fish,
 ermen. cannery operators. and others interested attended the hear ings to present their views on the
 proposed regulations.
 Other Fish and Wildlife repre- sentatives assisting at the hear 1 ing are George Kelez. Superinten-
 dent of Alaska Fisheries: Clarence ! Rhode, Alaska Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. and
 Frank Hynes and Clay Scudder, Fish and Wildlife Service officials. Proposed Changes Thompson opened the meeting by | outlining the proposed changes in regulations. Opening dates for the Icy Straits. Western and Eastern
 Districts was set at August p for 1949 as compared to the opening
 date of August 9 this year The F&WS issued the further warning for these three districts that if 1 the run is at low level and seeding grounds haven't been ac-
 complished. further curtailment of | the fishing time may be necessary. i In the other districts of South
 east Alaska. the opening date will be August IS and the closing date 1, will be the same throughout the Southeast and has been set for .Septeniber g. Thompson announced that the closing date will be sub- ject to adjustment in accordance with the actual situation. 1 Specific Regulations
 Thompson announced four specif- lie regulations.
 Tn the Eastern District all salmon fishing, except trolling. will be pro- l hitited along the east shore of 1 Stephens Passage and Frederick Sound south of the latitude of i, Midway Island to latitude of Horn
 Cliff.
 The closed area at the mouth of ! the Taku River to be extended by three-quarters of a mile.
 1, All salmon fishing in offshore 1, waters off the southern end of i Prince of Wales Island will be prohibited until August Is. In the Southern District all fish- ! ing will be prohibited in the north | ern portion of Portland Canal, where Canada now prohibits fish, 1 ing on the Canadian side of the ! border.
 I The hearing officers also prepar- ed a list of proposals for discus
 sion by the meeting, although no regulations have been prepared on them. These include: protection . of king salmon in Stikine River, whether leads should be permitted
 on purse seiners. the use of gill; nets outside of gillnet areas, meth
 ods whereby closing of traps dur ing closed periods can be guaran- teed, daily records of fish taken by boats, use of devise to. insure
 only shrimp of certain size be- ing taken, and outlawing the use
 of pounds in herring fishery.
 In closing, Thompson stated that the salmon situation in this area is serious and that drastic change in regulations will have to be eff fected to preserve salmon. He re- ported that Albert M. Day. Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service ] is determined that the salmon will
 be preserved even if it means
 temporary closure in this area. Change In Chum Season
 I N. R. tDoc, Walker. of Ketchi- kan presented a petition from the fishermen in Southeast Alaska -e- ! questing the immediate inyestiga- ton of the possibility of changing l the opening of the fall season for chums from october Is to October i ). He stated that all plnk SaiIHon have now entered the streams and that if the chum season was op-
 ened earlier there is no danger of
 pinks being taken. He said that If
 the chum season were open ed at an earlier date is would mean
 over million dollars profit to he seiners in Southeast Alaska. On behalf of the fishermen in
 the Southern District, Walker ask
 ed for immediate investigation Of
 this change In season dates. He estimated that it would take ap- proximately week for fishermen to prepare gear and that if the
 announcement was not made until
 -