42 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION 
wliicli it is illegal to fisli, even tliougli it afterwards widens into a lake or basin, it 
should be regarded, so far as the law is concerned, as of the width restricted by the law, 
for the lake or basin can flow no more water than the narrow part of the outlet unless 
there are more outlets, which is exceedingly improbable. 
Traps should either not be allowed or else should be regulated. The leads, heart, 
and wings should not be permitted to extend over more than one-third of the width 
of the channel (not width between banks), and the shore end of the leader should not 
be iiermitted to approach nearer the shore than 100 feet from the low- water mark, and 
no trap should be permitted within 300 yards of any other trap. 
Under section 1, of the law quoted, the Treasury Department should by all means 
regulate the fishing in approaches to the stream. It is recommended that off the 
mouths of all streams in which fishing is prohibited by the act, no fishing be per- 
mitted, except by rod or spear, over an area formed by drawing a line from a point 100 
yards on either side of the river, in a direction parallel to the flow at the mouth and 
extending 600 yards into the bay, arm, or sea. In several localities the seines are run 
across the mouths of the rivers, and one seine follows another in such rapid succession 
that but few fish can ascend, for it must be remembered that a seine dragged through 
the water must necessarily frighten the fish, and those that are not taken probably 
do not return for an appreciable time, and then only to encounter another seine. 
The law does not provide for a sufficient number of inspectors. Six would not be 
too many, and it should be stated that the appointees shall be practical fishermen, 
who must be in the field from the time fishing begins — in some districts early in May — 
until it closes, in some districts about the 1st of October. 
The inspectors should be clothed with the power to reject fish that are unfit. 
Fish out of the water for more than forty-eight hours should be rejected. It may be 
considered by some that this is too short a time; that the weather of Alaska will 
permit fish to remain in good condition for a longer period. But this is not the case; 
during the packing season there are at times warm days, and there is much rain and 
fog, the fish are handled in masses, and deterioration is raiiid. 
The superintendents of the canneries of the largest organization that operates in 
Alaska are instructed not to pack fish that have been more than forty-eight hours out 
of the water. There are probably fewer bad fish packed than is usually believed by 
the public, yet many are packed that are unfit. 
Reference has already been made to the manner in which fish are collected at 
some canneries from distant points. These fish are often two days old when collected, 
and before they are finally packed three or four days have elapsed, and they are then 
probably unfit for food. 
In order that the productive capacity of the streams may be known, the law 
should provide that each cannery, saltery, or person engaged in packing, canning, 
salting, or drying, or otherwise preparing salmon for commercial purposes, must, on or 
before December 31 of each year, submit to the Treasury Department a sworn state- 
ment giving the number of cases, boxes, barrels, bales, or bundles of each species so 
prepared, and the number of fish of each and every species used in the business, 
separately for each stream, together with the dates when fishing was commenced and 
ended in each stream. Without this information it is simply impossible to ascertain 
the correct value of the streams and to regulate the fisheries. 
The law should also provide that all cans should be distinctly marked with the 
name and location of the cannery and the kind of salmon packed. 
