52 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Executive Orders Nos. 4020 and 4021, June 7, 1924. 



Revoke orders establishing Alaska Peninsula and Soutliwestern Alaska Fishery Reservations. 



Act of June 6, 1924. Department of Commerce Circular No. 251, tenth edition, June 21, 1924. 



Section 1. Gives broad authority to Secretary of Commerce for conserving fisheries of Alaska; 

 authority given to establish areas in which fishing may be prohibited or limited by (a) limitation of 

 size and character of gear, (b) limitation of catch, and (r) limitation of time, means, methods, and 

 extent of fishing. Such regulations must be of general application and exclusive rights to fish 

 shall not be granted; act does not affect specified closed areas; prohibits importation of salmon 

 taken during closed periods. 



Section 2. Not less than 50 per cent escapement required in streams where counting weirs are 

 maintained. 



Section 3. Amends section 3 of the act of June 26, 1906; prohibits erection of dams, traps, etc., 

 in waters less than 1,000 feet in width or within 500 yards of salmon stream mouths except at 

 Karluk and Ugashik; prohibits setting of gear within 100 yards of other gear or to drive a trap within 

 600 yards laterally or 100 yards endwise of another trap. 



Section 4. Amends section 4 of the act of June 26, 1906; prohibits commercial fishing in streams 

 or within 500 yards of stream mouths, except at Karluk and Ugashik. 



Section 5. Amends section 5 of the act of June 26, 1906; provides for a weekly closed season 

 from 6 p. m. Saturday to 6 a. m. Monday and for the proper closing of traps during closed seasons. 

 Section 6. Provides penalties for violations of regulations. 



Section 7. Repeals sections 6 and 13 of the act of June 26, 1906, authorizing reservations and 

 providing penalties. 



The acts of June 14, 1906 (prohibiting fishing by aUens), and section 2 (providing 

 tax rebates for hatcheries operated), section 7 (prohibiting use of salmon after 48 

 hours), section 8 (prohibiting waste), section 9 (prohibiting false labeling), section 10 

 (requiring reports), section 11 (authorizing regulations), section 12 (authorizing 

 expenditures to enforce), and sections 14, 15, and 16 (formal) of the act of June 26, 

 1906, are still in force. 



The acts of June 14, 1906, and of June 6, 1924, and the given sections of the act 

 of June 26, 1906, remain (February 14, 1928) unmodified, except for the act of June 

 18, 1926, which modifies section 1 of the act of June 6, 1924, and permits the taking 

 of fish and shellfish for bait purposes at any tune. Numerous regulations have 

 been promulgated imder the authority given by these acts, the details of which may 

 be found in the various editions of circular No. 251 and m the various annual reports 

 of the Alaska fishery and fur-seal industries. Most of the current regulations are in 

 the fourteenth edition of this circular, issued December 12, 1927. 



It is apparent from this summary that there were no drastic restrictions on the 

 fishery up to the time of the establishment of the Alaska Penmsula and the South- 

 western Alaska Fishery Reservations, and even such mUd restrictions as were unposed 

 by the two acts of 1906 were not really efl'ective because of lack of funds for adequate 

 enforcement. A few dozen stream guards and a few small patrol boats could do 

 comparatively little along such an extended coast liue as that of Alaska. Up to 

 1922, then, it is safe to say that the catch of salmon had not been affected materially 

 by legal restrictions. It remains to be seen whether the restrictions imposed ui the 

 central and western districts under the authority of the reservations or those imposed 

 so far under the authority of the act of 1924 are adequate to protect the salmon 

 resources. If the theory we have expressed above is correct and the Alaska salmon 

 fisheries have reached a point beyond the safe limit of exploitation, it is obvious that 



