94 American Fisheries Society 



to contribute to individual enterprise and to national food 

 supply a harvest that is of all which man gathers the most 

 profitable because it demands least care and utilizes for its 

 production otherwise unused sources of energy. 



The nation is vitally concerned with the impending dan- 

 ger. It has contributed the means by which the hatchery 

 is maintained and it has a moral if not a full legal right 

 to see that no private agencies thus in irresponsible man- 

 ner destroy the results of its efforts. Some way should 

 be found and some agency invigorated to the point where 

 it will insist upon the maintenance of proper fishways 

 even though this involve expense upon the interests con- 

 cerned. 



This is, however, only one phase of a question which 

 has many aspects. The run of Pacific salmon has entirely 

 disappeared in some streams. In others it has been tre- 

 mendously impaired. In districts like Puget Sound it has 

 sunk to a fraction of its former size and during 1919 only 

 one district in Alaska reported a catch that equalled 100 

 per cent of the number for the preceding ten years. Fur- 

 thermore these results were obtained by the use of more 

 boats, more men, more gear and other destructive appli- 

 ances than had ever been in service before. 



In his latest report the United States Commissioner 

 of Fisheries calls attention to the situation in so far as it 

 concerns Alaska waters and the salmon therein, in the 

 following terms: 



For about eight years legislation affecting the fisheries of Alaska 

 has been pending in Congress. Protracted hearings have been held, and 

 a large amount of testimony and data has been presented to the appro- 

 priate committees of the two houses. The necessity for a radical revi- 

 sion of the existing salmon law has been especially pointed out by 

 various agencies and persons interested in the welfare of the fisheries of 

 Alaska, and congressional committees have made favorable reports on 

 bills embodying new legislation. 



No new fishery laws have, however, been enacted; and the fisheries 

 of Alaska, at the most critical period of their history, remain subject 

 to laws which have been shown to be obsolete and inadequate. The 



