﻿FISHERY 
  INDUSTEIES. 
  41 
  

  

  activity 
  regarding 
  fishery 
  matters 
  before 
  the 
  legislature 
  centered 
  in 
  

   and 
  had 
  bearing 
  upon 
  the 
  fish-trap 
  and 
  purse-seine 
  controversy. 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  be 
  remembered 
  that 
  the 
  purse 
  seine 
  is 
  a 
  greater 
  employer 
  

   of 
  labor 
  than 
  the 
  trap, 
  hence 
  the 
  advocates 
  of 
  the 
  purse 
  seine 
  are 
  

   strong 
  numerically. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  cannery 
  owners 
  who 
  operate 
  chiefly 
  the 
  

   more 
  expensive 
  trap, 
  and 
  the 
  question 
  thus 
  becomes 
  a 
  dispute 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  capital 
  and 
  labor. 
  The 
  cannery 
  men 
  maintain 
  that 
  the 
  sweep- 
  

   ing 
  abolition 
  of 
  their 
  most 
  economical 
  form 
  of 
  gear 
  would 
  be 
  con- 
  

   fiscatory 
  and 
  ruinous 
  to 
  an 
  industry 
  having 
  millions 
  invested 
  in 
  the 
  

   Territory; 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  react 
  with 
  greatest 
  force 
  upon 
  those 
  advo- 
  

   cating 
  it; 
  that 
  traps 
  insure 
  a 
  fresher 
  and 
  better 
  quality 
  of 
  fish; 
  and 
  

   that 
  the 
  plea 
  of 
  the 
  purse-seine 
  fishermen 
  that 
  traps 
  are 
  destropng 
  

   the 
  runs 
  of 
  salmon 
  is 
  not 
  borne 
  out 
  by 
  fact 
  or 
  statistics. 
  It 
  is 
  upon 
  

   the 
  score 
  of 
  Idlling 
  excessive 
  numbers 
  of 
  salmon 
  that 
  the 
  friends 
  of 
  

   the 
  purse 
  seine 
  denounce 
  the 
  trap. 
  

  

  To 
  have 
  the 
  benefit 
  of 
  impartial 
  opinion 
  in 
  the 
  controversy, 
  Gov- 
  

   ernor 
  Clark, 
  at 
  the 
  instance 
  of 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  legislature, 
  asked 
  

   the 
  Secretary 
  of 
  Commerce 
  to 
  send 
  a 
  representative 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  

   of 
  Fisheries 
  to 
  appear 
  before 
  the 
  legislature. 
  The 
  Secretary 
  accord- 
  

   ingly 
  directed 
  Assistant 
  Agent 
  Bower 
  to 
  proceed 
  to 
  Juneau 
  and 
  lend 
  

   every 
  proper 
  efl'ort 
  toward 
  an 
  understanding 
  of 
  any 
  and 
  all 
  fishery 
  

   matters 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  legislature 
  might 
  desire 
  to 
  give 
  consideration. 
  

  

  Since 
  the 
  trap 
  and 
  purse-seine 
  question 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  one, 
  

   and 
  as 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  future 
  use 
  for 
  certain 
  facts 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  it, 
  

   some 
  of 
  the 
  testimony 
  given 
  before 
  the 
  joint 
  fisheries 
  committee, 
  

   and 
  the 
  general 
  attitude 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  in 
  the 
  matter, 
  may 
  with 
  

   propriety 
  be 
  repeated 
  here. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  important 
  to 
  realize 
  at 
  once 
  the 
  two-fold 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  ques- 
  

   tion. 
  The 
  purse-seine 
  fishermen 
  protest 
  against 
  the 
  trap, 
  which 
  is 
  

   a 
  labor-saving 
  device 
  and 
  economy 
  to 
  the 
  cannerymen, 
  upon 
  the 
  

   ground 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  dangerous 
  to 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  fish. 
  An 
  employer's 
  

   right 
  to 
  use 
  labor-saving 
  devices 
  can 
  not, 
  for 
  itself 
  alone, 
  be 
  success- 
  

   fully 
  assailed. 
  The 
  public 
  rights 
  in 
  natural 
  resources, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  

   hand, 
  can 
  and 
  should 
  be 
  protected. 
  The 
  burden 
  of 
  proof, 
  however, 
  

   seems 
  to 
  rest 
  upon 
  the 
  purse-seine 
  fishermen, 
  who 
  must 
  show 
  that 
  

   the 
  trap 
  is 
  a 
  wasteful 
  or 
  monopolistic 
  mode 
  of 
  capture. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  unanimously 
  agreed 
  that, 
  except 
  a 
  safe 
  breeding 
  reserve, 
  all 
  

   the 
  fish 
  our 
  waters 
  will 
  yield 
  may 
  very 
  properly 
  be 
  taken 
  for 
  

   economic 
  uses. 
  It 
  is 
  also 
  unquestionably 
  proved, 
  by 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  

   the 
  fisheries 
  the 
  world 
  over, 
  that 
  any 
  appliance 
  for 
  wholesale 
  capture 
  

   may 
  exhaust 
  the 
  supply 
  if 
  operated 
  without 
  regulation. 
  For 
  the 
  

   preservation 
  of 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  fish, 
  therefore, 
  it 
  is 
  necessary 
  to 
  limit 
  

   the 
  catch. 
  This 
  may 
  be 
  accomplished 
  (1) 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  an 
  easily 
  

   controlled 
  form 
  of 
  fishing 
  apparatus; 
  (2) 
  proper 
  close 
  seasons; 
  (3) 
  

   restriction 
  of 
  fishing 
  areas 
  as 
  necessary; 
  (4) 
  limiting 
  distance 
  inter- 
  

  

  