FISHERY INDUSTRIES. 67 
American concerns are already making preparations for supplying American. fisher- 
men with bait. At this port there is located not only the New England Fish Co. with 
its 4,000,000-pound freezer and storage, but also the Ketchikan Cold Storage Co., a 
quasi-public concern. This company will store bait for fish for any one applying. 
Since preparations have been made in southeastern Alaska for supplying our fisher- 
men with bait, any thought of Canadian retaliation by way of bait restrictions on 
this coast need not be considered seriously. 
AMERICAN FIRMS CAN NOT COMPETE AT PRINCE RUPERT. 
American firms can not much longer compete at Prince Rupert in the face of ex- 
isting conditions. They can not compete at all without the erection of cold-storage 
and freezing plants, which entail investmeuts of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
Under present conditions they are not making interest upon their investments, meager 
as they are. If a remedy is not provided in the immediate future, conditions will 
compel American fish houses to make such investments, and once made they will not 
be duplicated in southeastern Alaska. 
It seems to be the uniform opinion among American fish houses that so long as one 
American concern maintains a buying branch there and erects freezers and cold 
storage that the rest will be forced to do so. It will really establish the market at 
Prince Rupert. As above stated, the fear of ultimate Canadian assimilation and un- 
favorable conditions because of subsidies and other governmental regulations favor- 
able to Canadian interests, has to date kept American houses from really establishing 
themselves at that port. 
It is hoped that action will be taken soon to settle the very per- 
plexing problem which has presented itself as a result of the entry 
of Prince Rupert into the Pacific Coast halibut fishery. It is also 
hoped that the matter will be adjusted so that Canada may enjoy 
to the fullest the advantages of her own fishery, but at the same time 
it is, however, of the greatest importance to the United States that 
American rights and interests be fully safeguarded in this industry 
which supplies American markets from American sources. Legis- 
lative action as advocated in 1916 would not prevent the Grand 
Trunk Pacific Railway from continuing to transport large quanti- 
ties of halibut to eastern markets, but under the terms of this sug- 
gested legislation it will be necessary for fishing vessels first to land 
their catch at an American port where there would be competition 
for the transportation beneficial to the American public, which 
competition does not now exist at Prince Rupert. 
A bill (S. 4586) was introduced February 21, 1916, by Senator 
Johnson, of Maine, for the protection and conservation of the halibut 
fisheries of the Pacific Ocean, including the establishment of a close 
season for halibut fishing in certain waters thereof, and placing restric- 
tions upon the landing of halibut in the United States and the Terri- 
tory of Alaska during the close season. The close season proposed 
by the bill included the months of December and January of each 
year. It was provided that a reserved area of approximately 290 
square nautical miles was to be set aside off the coast of southeast 
Alaska between Cape Lynch and Cape Addington, where fishing for 
