Henry O’Malley, Sutherland and
The Alaska Trollers
Association
Mr. Eric Johnson, President
Alaska Trollers’ Association,
Ketchikan, Alaska
My dear Mr. Johnson: —
I have had a conference with
Mr. O’Malley of the Bureau of
Fisheries on the closed season
for salmon trolling and am sub
mitting to you herewith a me
morandum that was prepared
by the Bureau of Fisheries and
which expresses Mr. O'Malley’s
view on the subject under dis
cussion.
I do not favor his suggestion
of extending the present closed
season for salmon trolling. Mr.
O’Malley is undertaking to find
out just how many king sal
mon are taken from Alaskan
waters during the months of
January and February and
March, and has wired his repre
sentatives in Alaska to get that
information to him as quickly
as possible. My opinion is that
it will show an almost neligible
quantity as compared with the
number that are caught during
the other months of the year.
I believe that your suggestion
of a law to prohibit the sale of
king salmon weighing less than
6 pounds is an excellent one and
believe Mr. O'Malley feels the
same way about it, but he seems
to be of the opinion that the law
could not be enforced properly
with regard to the king salmon
that are caught in seines and
traps, but I feel that the trap
and seine caught king salmon
represent a very small quantity.
Will have another meeting
with Mr. O’Malley as soon as he
gets his information about the
quantity of king salmon receiv
ed during the winter months
and will advise you further.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) DAN SUTHERLAND
Delegate from Alaska
O lViALLEY’S ANSWER TO THE
TROLLERS
Department of Commerce
Bureau of Fisheries
Washington, Jan. 23, 1929
SUBJECT : Memorandum on
on proposal to change regu
lations affecting salmon
trolling in Southeastern
Alaska
1. PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE
It seems very likely that the
proposed substitute law, prohib
iting the taking of fish under
six pounds in weight, would be
desireable and effective. Simi
lar laws have been tried in the
west coast states and have not
been satisfactory, chiefly for the
reason that the small fish can
not be prevented from taking
the hook, and it is generally
agreed that very few hooked
fish survive. This is especially
true when the fishermen follow
their usual practice and jerk
the fish off the hook as soon as
they can determine that it is
under size. Even if they were
to carefully remove each small
fish the mortality would still be
high and the loss of such fish
constitutes a distinct economic
waste because at this size a
large proportion will survive
the natural hazards of life and
attain maturity. A regulation
prohibiting the taking of King
salmon less than six pounds in
weight would be difficult to en
force especially during the sea
son when other fishing than by
troll is permitted. In short the
proposed substitute seems neith
er effective or feasible.
2.. Bearing of Troll Fishing In
Alaska on conservation of Co
lumbia River salmon.
Tagging experiments have
shown that the King salmon of
Southeastern Alaska contain a
large percentage of fish belong
ing to the Columbia River runs.
The Columbia River runs are
already threatened with eco
nomic extinction as the result
of an intensive fishery and the
reductions of spawning areas.
The additional inroads made
by trollers in Alaska must be
extensive and it would seem on
ly sensible conservation to limit
the fishery accordingly.
3.. Waste due to catching imma
ture fish.
Studies made of the salmon
caught by trolling off the coasts
of Oregon, Washington, and
California have shown conclus
ively that large numbers of im
mature fish are caught—fish
that will, if left alone, grow rap
idly and most of which will sur
vive. The actual poundage loss
resulting from catching small,
immature salmon cannot be es
timated but it is believed to be
very great. Figures are avail
able that show a practical