The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-03-07
Changes in Fishing Are Made in Several Setfions;
 Power Boating, Bristol Bay

erations not only must be registered in advance of seasonal activities, as in the past, but operators hence- forth must notify the Fish and Wildlife Service before moving to a new area or district. Local repre- sentatives of the service will serve as registration agents.
 King Salmon Trolling
 Trolling for king salmon in the outside waters of Alaska is pro- hibited from Nov. to March l5. and for coho salmon from Oct. 31 to June IS.
 The fall trolling closure in inside waters has been reduced to extend only from Sept. 20 to Oct. 5, to conform with the special seineing season which opens in several places in Southeast Alaska waters Oct. 5.
 Fish Traps
 The ban against taking under sized king salmon, formerly ap- piled only to trolling, was extended to all forms of gear.
 Identifying names and numbers on fishing boats and net floats must have lines at least an inch wide % that they can be readily seen.
 The Service removed three regu- lations applying to fish traps which:
 1. Prescribed the rights of natives to trap site privileges on land set aside for their special occupancy.
 3. Required the filing of trap site locations with the Service. 8. Specified methods of determin- ing priorities of applicants for the same trap site.
 The new regulations define a trap specifically, so that any net or other device set or operated in the manner of a trap shall be subject to all trap regulations.
 Other Changes
 Bering Sea-the use of motors in gill net fishing boats is no longer prohibited in the Kotzebue-Yuko Kuskokwim area. The minimum legal size of king crab is increased from 5s to 6la inches in width or shell.
 Bristol Bay Area-regulations Tor the Hagemeister District deleted; no commercial fishery has existed there for many years. Numbers ana letters of fishing boats must be at least 12 inches high. and each boat must be lettered to indicate the dis trict in which it operates. It Is now illegal to set any net further than l5O yards from the mean high tide mark. The 1850 regulations are based on the premise that no more than the recommended maximum of 426 drift gill net boats will be operated in the entire area.
 Alaska Peninsula Area
 No change in dates; except for Port Moller. fishing will end throughout the district Aug. 5 unless escapements are so unexpectedly good as to warrant local extensions. Motive power no longer prohibited in the gill net boats of the Chignik area. Thin Point Cove closed to commercial fishing to protect its runs of red salmon. Canoe Bay closed to king crab fishing for use as a spawning and nursery ground.
 Kodiak Area
 Closed season from July Is to July 3l generally in order to pro- tect runs of pink salmon, excep- tions will apply only to certain pre- dominantly red salmon localities where the catch of that species is controlled by weir counts and where the abundance of pink salmon is not an important factor. Kaiugnak Bay and Sukhoi Lagoon closed to commercial salmon fishing Cook Inlet Area No change in the season dates normally governing even-year op- erations, and the weekly closed period will remain the same as last year However, the tremendous in- crease in amount of fishing gear which has come into the Inlet dur ing the last two years is causing grave concern for the conservation of the salmon runs A complete analysis is now being made. Com pensatory weekly closing restric- tions will be imposed if there is any increased intensity of fishing over that of 1949. Nets must now be marked with letters at least 6 inches high instead of the inches previously required. Drift. as we'll as fixed, gear must never be op- erated less than 600 feet from any other gear.
 | Resurrection Bay Area-Red sal mon, being accorded almost com- plete protection from commercial capture by keeping the season closed