THE ALASKA FISHERMAN
Published the 15th of each month at Ketchikan, Alaska
WILLIAM L. PAUL, ATTORNEY FOR THE
ALASKA NATIVE BROTHERHOOD
Entered as second - class matter at the Post Office at
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
SUBSCRPTION PRICE $2.00 FOR TWELVE ISSUES
OUR PLATFORM:
ALASKA FOR ALASKANS.
FULL TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
ABOLISHMENT OF ALL TRAPS.
COMPETENT CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP.
SUTHERLAND COMMENTS ON O’MALLEY’S
CLOSING ORDERS AGAINST TROLLERS
Probably in this mail the Alaska Trollers’ As
sociation will receive Commissioner O’Malley’s let
ter of April 26th on the subject of regulations for
king salmon trolling. You will note that the or
iginal subject regarding the winter closed season
on power boat trolling is not mentioned, but they
have gone off on further regulations which I be
lieve are much more drastic than the winter clos
ing to power boats.
Mr. O’Malley says that there “is more than
an even chance” that they will rescind the win
ter closing order when the regulations for 1930
are published in the coming December.
Dennis Winn Recommends
... .This idea of a closed season from the 24th of
August to the 30th of September is evidently re
commended by Mr. Winn who was called upon for
data regarding king salmon catch through the
months of the year, upon which data I believe the
Commissioner intended to base his action on the
winter closing order.
A Harsh Measure
....This closing from August 24th to September
30th is in my opinion a pretty harsh measure and
I told ’Mr. O’Malley that it was a much more seri
ous question than the winter closing to power
boats. He claims that it is for the purpose of
PRESERVING THE SILVER SALMON, and says
that many of the trollers go into the streams with
nets during the fall season to catch cohoes. I ad
vised him that if such were the case it was up to
him to protect the streams from illegal fishing,
and it did not seem fair to penalize all the salmon
trollers because some of them had violated the
law. The attitude of the Bureau of Fisheries to
ward independent fishermen is clearly shown in
a quotation from the third paragraph of Commis
sioner O’Malley’s letter, which reads:
“The question involved is whether the
fishermen will conscientiously remove all
undersized salmon from the hook so that
they may be returned to the water alive
and will survive the ordeal.”
He seems to be imbued with the idea that the
fishermen are ruthless and cannot be depended
upon to help out in the conservation of fish in any
manner and that as a class they are out to rob
the streams of cohoes in the month of September.
The only ones who endorse his conservation
plans are the big packers who are under virtually
no restrictions and who operate their fish traps
without any material interference.
It is to be regretted that the Trollers’ Asso
ciation should receive this slap in the face after
the dignified and courteous manner in which they
approached the proposition of Modifying the win
ter closing order.
DAN SUTHERLAND
Delegate to Congress from Alaska.
X
A SATISFACTORY WARDEN
-x
Dennis Winn, the field agent of the Bureau of
Fisheries, said that he had investigated the charg
es of the people of Yakutat against warden Harry
Pryde—a man who got his FIRST hold on official
life by himself circulating a petition among sev
eral hundred Indians—and that he found him to
be a very satisfactory warden.
This can only mean that wardens are satis
factory to the Bureau of Fisheries when they per
secute the residents of Alaska by annoying them,
by harassing them, by making false criminal
charges against them, and by kissing the feet of
big packer—all of which acts Henry O’Malley and
Dennis Winn commend.
The charges against Pryde grew out of his at
tempt to arrest two white men of Yakutat who
took 62 fish from Ankow River for food for their
families. But Pryde, the satisfactory fish warden,
tried to arrest them and would have done so but
for the courage of the former United States Com
missioner, (since removed altho no cause stated),
who pointed out the fact that the very law under
which Pryde claimed to be acting provided “That
nothing contained herein shall prevent the taking
of fish for local food requirements or for the use as
dog feed.”
-x-—
“STRICT INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW”
-x
The Bureau of Fisheries anounce that they
will this summer follow the STRICT INTERPRE
TATION OF THE LAW. By this they mean that
boats caught with fish INSIDE THE LINE will be