﻿FISHEEY 
  INDUSTEIES. 
  45 
  

  

  Against 
  the 
  charges 
  of 
  the 
  purse 
  seiners 
  that 
  the 
  traps 
  are 
  monopo- 
  

   listic, 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  noted 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  twenty 
  independent 
  traps 
  in 
  

   southeast 
  Alaska 
  in 
  1912, 
  owned 
  by 
  individuals 
  or 
  groups 
  of 
  individ- 
  

   uals 
  wholly 
  or 
  nearly 
  all 
  residents 
  of 
  Alaska. 
  One 
  phase 
  of 
  the 
  inde- 
  

   pendent 
  trap 
  situation 
  is 
  that 
  an 
  individual 
  stands 
  an 
  equal 
  chance 
  

   with 
  the 
  largest 
  company 
  in 
  developing 
  a 
  new 
  site, 
  as 
  favorable 
  loca- 
  

   tions 
  are 
  not 
  known 
  until 
  tried. 
  Thus, 
  if 
  the 
  independent 
  ow^ler 
  by 
  

   good 
  fortune 
  gets 
  the 
  better 
  location, 
  the 
  preponderance 
  of 
  capital 
  

   in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  company 
  can 
  hardly 
  eject 
  him. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  who 
  can 
  not 
  com- 
  

   mand 
  sufhcient 
  capital 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  trap, 
  the 
  seine 
  or 
  other 
  less 
  expen- 
  

   sive 
  apparatus 
  is 
  perforce 
  his 
  choice, 
  and 
  he 
  then 
  wants 
  to 
  abolish 
  all 
  

   traps, 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  in 
  direct 
  competition 
  with 
  him. 
  But, 
  as 
  in 
  other 
  

   industries, 
  competition 
  when 
  conducted 
  legitimately 
  invariably 
  

   inures 
  to 
  the 
  public 
  good. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  matter 
  of 
  preventing 
  too 
  heavy 
  a 
  drain 
  upon 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  

   salmon, 
  a 
  point 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  the 
  purse 
  seine 
  is 
  that 
  it 
  can 
  not 
  operate 
  

   in 
  many 
  places 
  during 
  stormy 
  weather, 
  and 
  the 
  fish 
  have 
  an 
  oppor- 
  

   tunity 
  to 
  escape, 
  whereas, 
  unless 
  conditions 
  are 
  unusually 
  bad, 
  a 
  

   trap 
  is 
  likely 
  to 
  catch 
  considerable 
  numbers 
  of 
  fish 
  when 
  a 
  purse 
  

   seine 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  operated 
  profitably. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  however, 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  well-known 
  habit 
  of 
  salmon 
  

   to 
  school 
  outside 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  streams 
  before 
  ascending 
  for 
  spawning 
  

   purposes. 
  They 
  are 
  fish 
  that 
  have 
  passed 
  the 
  traps. 
  It 
  is 
  here 
  that 
  

   the 
  purse 
  seine 
  is 
  used 
  most 
  assiduously. 
  Conditions 
  were 
  particu- 
  

   larly 
  bad 
  in 
  this 
  regard 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1911, 
  when 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   streams 
  w^ere 
  so 
  low 
  that 
  the 
  fish 
  were 
  much 
  hindered 
  and 
  sometimes 
  

   absolutely 
  prevented 
  from 
  ascending. 
  Of 
  course, 
  this 
  afforded 
  great 
  

   opportunity 
  for 
  the 
  purse 
  seine. 
  

  

  Originally 
  the 
  canneries 
  depended 
  chiefly 
  upon 
  seines 
  to 
  supply 
  

   their 
  fish. 
  It 
  is 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  few 
  years 
  that 
  traps 
  have 
  come 
  so 
  

   largely 
  into 
  use, 
  their 
  vogue 
  being 
  due 
  piimarily 
  to 
  strengthened 
  

   faith 
  in 
  their 
  economy 
  as 
  a 
  fishing 
  appliance. 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  fisher- 
  

   men's 
  strike 
  in 
  1912 
  revealed 
  to 
  the 
  cannerymen 
  the 
  disadvantage 
  

   of 
  depending 
  upon 
  the 
  fishermen 
  with 
  movable 
  gear, 
  and 
  the 
  higher 
  

   wages 
  demanded 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  adoption 
  of 
  traps 
  in 
  still 
  greater 
  numbers. 
  

   A 
  case 
  in 
  point 
  is 
  a 
  large 
  company 
  which 
  has 
  operated 
  four 
  canneries 
  

   in 
  southeast 
  Alaska 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  past, 
  and 
  used 
  seine-caught 
  

   fish 
  exclusively 
  until 
  this 
  season, 
  when 
  it 
  began 
  to 
  install 
  traps. 
  

   All 
  of 
  this 
  means 
  that 
  eventually 
  a 
  limit 
  must 
  be 
  placed 
  upon 
  traps 
  

   as 
  well 
  as 
  other 
  forms 
  of 
  gear, 
  chiefly 
  purse 
  seines. 
  To 
  this 
  end 
  a 
  

   Federal 
  license 
  system 
  will 
  be 
  most 
  helpful. 
  

  

  Regulation, 
  in 
  fact 
  — 
  the 
  susceptibility 
  of 
  the 
  fishing 
  device 
  to 
  

   regulation 
  — 
  is 
  perhaps 
  the 
  prime 
  factor 
  in 
  the 
  whole 
  question. 
  As 
  

   already 
  stated, 
  any 
  form 
  of 
  gear 
  unrestricted 
  could 
  deplete 
  the 
  re- 
  

  

  