this has happened before, while
they are never very plentiful
in this district, and the general
run of fish is said to have been
approximately normal. In the
areas to westward, where the
run - was a failure, there are
very few reduction plants, and
it is inconceivable that the
quantities taken there in the
last few years have caused
any depletion.
Producers present various oth
«r arguments; citing the her
ring fisheries of Norway and
the North Sea, which have been
intensively fished for hundreds
of years, and for many years
have supported an enormous
reduction industry, without vis
ible signs of depletion; assert
ing that there are herring
schools of almost incalcuable
magnitude spread over the off
shore banks of the North Pa
cific, and that periods of poor
fishing are merely due to un
accountable failure of the fish
to run in the customary waters
along shore, or to lack of ad
aptiility of fishing methods;
and that whales in off-shore
waters consume more herring
than are now taken for com
mercial purposes.
Proof, however, is lacking
for most of the claims advanc
ed either for or against the re
ducton industry. There are
plenty of assertions, theories
and unfounded assumptions;
but definite knowledge of the
Alaska herring is sadly lack
ing. As to the extent of the
resources—whether there is al
ready danger of over-fishing or
whether the fishery might be
developed to many times its
present magnitude—how wide
ly the fish range, and causes
of their migrations—on all
these matters there are pract
ically no reliable data. These
and many other questions must
be answered before the fishery
can be regulated on a sound
and constructive conservation
basis.
There has already been con
siderable regulation but it has
been based mainly on super
ficial indications, and no one
really knows whether it is ade
quate or excessive. On the
other hand, the present agita
tion in Alaska indicates that
strong political pressure will
be exerted for drastic restric
tion. The arguments advanc
ed may be entirely invalid, but
if not disproved will no doubt
appeal to many people; and
the pressure might conceivably
gain such strength os to
seriously cripple the industry.
The only real safeguard eith
er for the industry or the her
ring fishery, must be a knowl
edge of the facts upon which
reasonable regulation can be
based, and which can • be ad
vanced as a final answer to
unwaranted and destructive al
legations.
The Bureau of Fisheries about
a year and a half ago initiated
a scientific research of the Al
aska herring for the purpose
of obtaining such data, detail
ling G. A. Rounsefell to handle
the investigation. Mr. Rounse
fell appears well qualified for
the work, which he has been
carrying on conscientiously:
but in view of the vast area to
be covered, and the urgent need
of early results, the task seems
too great for one man. The
importance of the problem,
and of the industry whose
welfare is now at stake, would
warrant an intensive effort to
get at the essential facts with
all posible speed.
Mr. Kounsefell returned early
last month from his second
season of fieid work in Alaska,
and will spend the winter in
the laboratory at the Univer
sity Qf Washington, Seattle,
working up the data and ma
terial collected. His first re
port on the investigation is to
be made in the spring; but it
seems doubtful whether the
data so far collected will have
much bearing on the questions
immediately at issue. It ' is
hoped, however, that within a
few years his work will pro
duce information of real pract
ical value to the herring in
dustry, as well as for regula
tory purposes. Mr. Rounsefell
spent the entire season in the
areas to Westward, including
Kachemak Bay, Prince William
Sound and Red Fox Bay, find
ing it necessary to concentrate
as closely as possible in the in
terest of thoroughness.
Many detached facts and
observations on the herring
fishery are reported from time
to time by fishermen and pack
ers, leading to various conclu
sions: but more detailed ob
servation and scientific analysis
are needed to give such con
clusions the weight of estab
lished facts. In this connec
tion Olaf Floe, of the North
western Herring Company, calls
attention to a peculiar condi
tion noted last summer during
a heavy run of herring in Larch
Bay, Baranof Island: a run
which he considers probably the
greatest in the history of the
industry.
It is usual, he says, that the
July herring contains consid
erable feed, and also a great
deal of superfluous fat (belly
fat); but this year the fish of
the run mentioned were abso
lutely free of feed, except the
largest ones, and none were
found containing any super
fluous fat, either in July or
August. This, he believes,
proves that even among fishes,
when they become too num
erous, it is a case of “survival
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