THE FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1906. 43 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



The following recommendations are respectfully submitted: 



1. That Eyak River and Lake, on Prince William Sound, be 

 declared a salmon spawning reservation, either for future use as a 

 salmon propagating plant to be conducted by the government, or 

 that the adjacent waters may thereby be naturally reinforced. The 

 closing of the river and lake to commercial fishing would not seriously 

 affect the packing interest, as the resources of the river have been so 

 greatly reduced by excessive fishing in the past that they do not now 

 afford a material addition to the salmon supply of the region. 



2. That the salting of salmon bellies, by the processes that do not 

 now make any use of the other part of the fish and thereby entail a 

 shocking waste of valuable food material, be prohibited. The practice 

 is unquestionably inimical to the perpetuity of the fisheries. 



3. That the Indian practice of taking salmon from the Chilkoot and 

 Chilkat rivers with gaff hooks and selling them to the canneries be 

 prohibited. The method not only seriously affects the permanent 

 resources of the whole Lynn Canal region, but not uncommonly 

 mutilates the fish so that they are unfit for use by the packers. The 

 natives might still be permitted to take in this manner what are 

 needed for their domestic use. 



4. That Wood River be closed to commercial fishing, and that a 

 salmon hatchery be established on the chain of lakes at its head. 



This stream is, in the Nushagak region, the principal thoroughfare 

 of the red salmon to their spawning beds, and the fishing methods 

 practiced in it are the source of much complaint. The fish traps 

 seem to be the most important cause contributing to the poor run of 

 red salmon in 1906, and many complainants urge that such apparatus 

 be prohibited altogether. The canneries would unquestionably be 

 benefited by the closing of the stream. By far the greater quantity 

 of the fish they handle come from Nushagak Bay, and a good run 

 there overtaxes the canneries' capacity. The fish in Wood River then 

 have to be released, as in 1905. When, on the other hand, there is 

 a poor run in the bay there is necessarily a poor run in the river, and 

 this is the time when it is essential that the few fish which do escape 

 the bay nets be allowed unobstructed passage up the river. With 

 the possible exception of one firm, it is believed that the canneries 

 on the Nushagak would welcome the closing of Wood River to all 

 commercial fishing. But three, moreover, of the eight firms in the 

 region, have traps in the river at present, all of them doing by far 

 the greater part of their fishing in the bay. Thus the closing of the 

 river for a term of years would be but temporary inconvenience, at 

 most, to any of the firms, and such inconvenience would be more than 

 counterbalanced by the results of allowing the red salmon access to 



