38 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
THE ALASKA SALMON LAW. 
The following act, passed June 9, 1896, relating to the salmon fisheries of Alaska, 
is the one now ill force: 
AN ACT to ameiul an act entitled “An act to i)rovide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Aiaska.” 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of A?nerica in Conyress 
assenibted, That tlie act aiiiiroved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and entitled “An 
act to provide for the protection of the salmon lisheries of Alaska,” is hereby amended and reenacted 
as follows : 
That the erection of dams, barricades, fish wheels, fences, or any such fixed or stationary obstruc- 
tions in any part of the rivers or streams of Alaska, or to fish for or catch salmon or salmon trout in 
any manner or hy any means, with the purpose or result of preventing or impedingthe ascent of salmon 
to their sjyawning ground, is declared to he unlawful, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized and directed to remove such obstructions and to establish and enforce such regulations 
and surveillance as may he necessary to insure that this prohibition and all other provisions of law 
relating to the salmon fisheries of Alaska are strictly complied with. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful to fish, catch, or kill any salmon of any variety, except with 
rod or spear, above the tide waters of any of the creeks or rivers of less than five hundred feet width 
in the Territory of Alaska, except only for purposes of propagation, or to lay or set any drift net, 
set net, trap, pound net, or seine for any purpose across the tide waters of any river or stream for a 
distance of more than one-third of the width of such river, stream, or channel, or lay or set any seine 
or net within one hundred yards of any other net or seine which is being laid or set in said stream or 
channel, or to take, kill, or fish for salmon in any manner or by any means in any of the waters of the 
Territory of Alaska, either in the streams or tide waters, except Cook Inlet, Prince William Souna, 
Bering Sea, and the waters tributary thereto, from midnight on Friday of each week until six o’clock 
antemeridian of the Sunday following; or to fish for or catch or kill in any manner or by any appli- 
ances, except by rod or spear, any salmon in any stream of less than one hundred yards in width in 
the said Territory of Alaska between the hours of six o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the 
morning of the following day of each and every day of the week. 
Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury may , at his discretion, set aside any streams as spawning 
grounds, in which no fishing will be permitted; and when, in his judgment, the results of fishing 
operations on any stream indicate that the number of salmon taken is larger than the capacity of the 
stream to produce, he is authorized to establish weekly close seasons, to limit the duration of the 
fishing season, or to prohibit fishing entirely for one year or more, so as to permit salmon to increase: 
Provided, however, That such power shall be exercised only after all persons interested shall have been 
given a hearing, of which hearing due notice must be given by publication : And provided further, That 
it shall have been ascertained that the persons engaged in catching salmon do not maintain fish 
hatcheries of sufficient magnitude to keep such streams fully stocked. 
Sec. 4. That to enforce the i)rovisions of law herein, and such regulations as the Secretary of 
the Treasury may establish in pursuance thereof, he is authorized and directed to appoint one iu 82 )ector 
of fisheries, at a salary of one thousand eight hundred dollars jier annum; and two assistant insj)ec- 
tors, at a salary of one thousand six hundred dollars each per annum, and he will annually submit to 
Congress estimates to cover the salaries and actual traveling expenses of the officers hereby authorized 
and for such other expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the ]>rovisions of the law herein. 
Sec. 5. That any iterson violating the provisions of this act or the regulations established in 
l)ursuance thereof shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand 
dollars or imiirisoument at hard labor for a term of ninety days, or both such fine and imprisonment, 
at the discretion of the court ; and, further, in case of the violation of any of the jirovisions of section 
one of this act and conviction thereof a further fine of two hundred and fifty dollars per diem will be 
imposed for each day that the obstruction or obstructions therein are maintained. 
This law, like others that have preceded it, is generally regarded as inadequate 
in some vital respects by those having the interest of the salmon fisheries at heart; 
but there is little agreement among cannery people as to what the law should be. 
There is, however, a general inclination toward a tax on the output of each cannery 
