ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1925 80 



dismissed because of faulty pleadings. In the case of the Commander 

 and Waterland, seized from W. J. Imlach & Co. for wanton waste of 

 herring, the jury returned an instructed verdict of not guilty as to 

 the company and the crews, and the vessels were released. The 

 Altana and Pennsylvania, seized from the San Juan Fishing & Packing 

 Co. on the same charge, were also released and the case against the 

 company dismissed. 



In Bristol Bay four fishermen were arrested for illegal fishing 

 during the 1925 season and fined $75 each. Complaint was received 

 of waste of salmon by a packer at Nushagak, and all information 

 was turned over to the United States attorney at Valdez. 



The case against Louis Knaflich for illegal fishing in the Kuskokwim 

 River in 1924 was still pending at the end of the year. 



ROBBERY OF FISH TRAPS 



Fish piracy, or the robbery of fish traps, which in previous seasons 

 was bitterly complained of by salmon canners in southeastern Alaska, 

 was reduced to a minimum during the season of 1925. This was 

 accomplished chiefly through the maintenance of a patrol organized 

 by the larger canners and operated under the supervision of deputy 

 United States marshals. A number of cruising boats were engaged 

 in this patrol and covered waters in the vicinity of Icy Strait, Niblack, 

 Street Island, Behm Canal, Kanagunut, Rose Inlet, Dall Head, 

 Hidden Inlet, Union Bay, and the west coast of Prince of Wales 

 Island. 



TERRITORIAL FISHERY LEGISLATION 



At its biennial session in 1925, the Legislature of Alaska passed 

 two acts applying to the fisheries of the Territory, both of which were 

 made immediately effective upon approval, April 30, 1925. 



The first of these amended the act of 1923 in regard to licensing 

 fishermen, and made operative the following license fees: 



Resident fishermen of all classes $1 



Nonresident fishermen who use any fishing appliance except 



seines 10 



Nonresident fishermen who use seines 25 



The second act amended the license tax law of 1921, as amended 

 in 1923, by reducing the tax from 15 cents to 5 cents per 100 pounds 

 of mild-cured red king salmon, and from 5 cents to 2% cents per 100 

 pounds of mild-cured white king salmon. 



The United States Supreme Court rendered a decision on December 

 7, 1925, in the case of the Pacific American Fisheries, petitioner, v. 

 Territory of Alaska, a test case brought to determine the constitu- 

 tionality of the graduated pack tax imposed by the Territorial law 

 of May 5, 1923. Decisions of the district court at Juneau and the 

 Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had previously upheld 

 the power of the Territory to impose such a tax, and the case came 

 before the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari. 



This case was of particular interest in view of the contention of 

 the petitioner that the tax was not a revenue measure, as it purported 

 to be, but an attempt to regulate fisheries contrary to the act of 

 August 24, 1912, creating a legislative assembly in the Territory of 

 Alaska, which provided that the authority therein granted to alter, 



