ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



411 



had been drawu or proposed in the House by the attorneys and friends 

 of the canners themselves, as well as the reports of the honorable 

 Commissioner of Fisheries, from whose valuable Kei)ort for 1892Ihav(5 

 made lengthy quotations.' I made diligent inquiry into the salmon 

 laws of Oregon and Washington, and that we might benefit by the 

 experience of those who have been protecting salmon for the past thou- 

 sand years 1 read Jinnd's Law of Salmon Fisheries in England and 

 Wales and A Treatise on the Law of Scotland Eclating to Eights of 

 Fishing, by Stewart.' 



The following bills, which I respectfully submit to the consideration 

 of the Department, are the result of my investigations: 



A BILL to amend an :ict entitled " An act to provide for tlio protection of the salmon fisheries of 



Alaska." 



Be it enacted h\j the Senate and House of Representatives of the Un ited States of Amei'ica 

 in Co7if/ress assembled, That the act approved March second, eighteen hundred and 

 eighty-nine, and entitled "An act to provide for the protection of the Halinou iish- 

 eries of Alaska," is hereby amended and reenacted as follows: 



"Section 1. That the erection of dams, barricades, fish wheels, fences, traps, 

 pound nets, or any fixed or stationary obstructions jn any part of the rivers or 

 streams of Alaska, or to fish for or catch salmon or salmon trout in any manner or 

 by any means with the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of 

 salmon or salmon trout to their spawning ground within one hundred yards of the 

 mouths of such rivers or streams, is declared to be unlawful, and the Secretary of 

 the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to remove such obstructions and to 

 establish and enforce such regulations and surveillance as may be necessary to insure 

 that this prohibition and all other provisions of law relating to the salmon fisheries 

 of Alaska are strictly complitMl with. 



''Skc. 2. That it shall be unlawful to fish, catch, or kill any salmon or salmon 

 trout of any variety, except with rod or spear, above the tide waters of any of the 

 creeks or ri\-ers or their tributaries in the Territory of Alaska, or to lay or set any 

 drift net, set net, or seine for any purpose, across the tide waters of any river or 

 stream, for a distance of more than two-thirds of the width of such river, stream, 

 or channel, or lay or set any seine or net within one hundred yards of any other net 

 or seine w^hich is being laid or set in said stream or channel, or to take, kill, or fish 

 for salmon in any manner or by any means in any of the waters of the Territory of 

 Alaska, either in the streams or tide waters, from noon on Friday of each week until 

 six o'clock postmeridian of the Saturday following, or to fish for or catch, or kill in 

 any manner, or by any appliances, any salmon or salmon trout in any stream of less 

 than one hun<lieil yards in width in the said Territory of Alaska between the hours 

 of six o'clock in the morning and six o'clock in the evening of the same day, of each 

 and every day of the week. 



"Skc. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury may, at his discretion, set aside cer- 

 tain streams as sjiawning grounds, in which no fishing will be permitted; and when, 

 in his judgment, the results of fishing operations on any stream indicate that the 

 number of salmon taken is larger than the capacity of thc^ stream to produce, he is 

 authorized to establish weekly close seasons, to limit the duration of the fishing sea- 

 son, or to ijrohibit fishing entirely for one year or more, so as to permit the salmon 

 tf) increase. 



"Skc. 4. That to enforce the provisions of law herein, and such regulations as the 

 Secretary of the Treasury may establish in pursuance thereof, he is authorized and 

 directed to appoint one inspector of fisheries at a salary of three hundred dollars 

 per month, and two assistant inspectors at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars 

 per month, and he will annuall^^ submit to Congress estimates to cover the salaries 

 and actual traveling expenses of the officers hereby authorized, and for such other 

 expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the law herein. 



"Sec. 5. That any person violating the provisions of this act, or the regulations 

 established in pursuance thereof, shall, upon conviction thereof, be j)unished by a 

 tine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment at hard labor for a term of 

 ninety days, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court; and 

 further, in case of the violation of any of the provisions of section one of this act, 

 and conviction thereof, a further fine of five hundred dollars per diem will be 

 imposed for each day that the ol)8truction or obstructions therein are maintained." 



'See extracts in Appendix. ^See Appendix. 



