PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 249 



artificial propagatins plant or hatchery, and shall produco yearly and place in the 

 natural spawning waters of each fishery so operated red-salmon fry in such numbers 

 as shall be equal to at least four times the number of mature fish taken from the said 

 fisheries by or for him or them during the preceding fishing season. Thp manage- 

 ment and "operation of such hatcheries shall be subject to such rules and regulations 

 as may hereafter he prescribed by the Secretary- of the Treasury. They sba'! be open 

 for in'spection by the authorized official of this department; annual report.- sliall be 

 iiuide. gi\'ing full particulars of the number of male and female salmon stripped, the 

 number of cs^gs treated, the number and percentage of fish hatched, and all other con- 

 ditions of interest; and there shall be made a sworn yearly statement of the number 

 of fry planted'and the exact location where said planting was done. 



On January 24, 1902, this regulation was amended so as to require 

 the planting of "red-salmon fry in such numbers as shall be equal to 

 at least ten times the number of salmon of all varieties taken from 

 the said fisheries." 



Although the regulation was mandator)-, but few of the packers 

 obeyed it. some because no suitable place was to be found within a 

 reasonable distance of their plants, others because the establishment 

 and operation of such a hatcnery would cost more than their returns 

 from the industry justified, and others because of lack of knowledge 

 required in hatchery work. The greater number of them absolutely 

 ignored it, and as a result those who conformed to the regulation 

 were placed under a heavy financial handicap. The injustice of this 

 arrangement was patent on its face, and in 19()<3, when a compre- 

 hensive revision of the law was made by Congress, provision was 

 made for reimbursing in the future those camu'ry men who operated 

 salmon hatcheries. The section covering this point reads as loUows: 



Sec. 2. That the catch and pack of talmou made in Alaska by the owners of pri- 

 vate salmon hatcheries operated in Ala.ska shall be exempt from all li<ense fees and 

 taxation of ev* ry nature at the rate of ten cases of canned sahnon to every one thousand 

 red or king salmon fry lil>erated. upon the following conditions: 



That the Secretary of Commerce and Lal)or may from time to time, and on the 

 application of the hatchery owiier shall, within a rea.'*oiiable time thereafter, cause 

 such private hatcheries to be inspected for the purjK)>e of determining the character 

 of their nj)erations, efficiencv, and productivene.s,'^, and if he approve the same shall 

 cause notice of such approval to be filed in the ollice of the clerk or deputy clerk of the 

 United States district court of tlie division of the District of Alaska wherein any such 

 hatchery is located, and shall also notify the owners of such hatchery of the action 

 taken by him. The owner, agent, ollicer, or superintendent of any hatchery the 

 effectiveness and productivenes.s of which haw been approved aa above j)rovided 

 shall, between the thirtieth day of June and the thirty-first day of December of each 

 vear, make proof of the number of salmon fry liberated during the twelve months 

 immediately preceding the thirtieth day of June by a written statement under oath. 

 Such proof shall be filed in the office of the clerk or deputy clerk of the United States 

 district court of the division of the District of Alaska wherein such hatchery is located, 

 and when so filed shall entitle the respective hatchery owners to the exemi)tion aa 

 herein provided; and a false oath as to the number of salmon fry liberated shall be 

 deemed perjury and subject the offender tf) all the pains and i)enaltie.-< thereof. Dupli- 

 ( ates of such statements shall al.so be filed with the Secretary of Commerce' and I.abor. 



It shall be the duty of such clerk or deputy clerk in whose office the approval and 

 proof heretofore provided for are filed to forthwith issue to the hatchery owner, caus- 

 ing surh j)roofs to be filed, (ertificates which .shall not be trans-ferable and of such 

 denominations as said owner may request (no certificate to cover fewer than one 

 thousand fry), covering in the aggregate the number of fry so proved to have been 

 liberated: and such certificates may be used at any time by the person, company, cor- 

 poration, or a.«sociation to whom issued for the payment pro tanto of any license fees 

 or taxes upon or against or on account of any eaten or j)a(k of salmon made by tbem 

 in Alaska; and it shall be the duty of all public officials charged with the duty of col- 

 lecting or receiving such license fees or taxes to accept such certificate.-! in lieu of 

 money in payment of all license fees or taxes upon or against the pack of canned 

 salmon at the ratio of one thousand fry for each ten cases of salmon. No hatchery 

 owner Bhall obtain the rebates from the output of any hatchery to which he might 



