CANADA’S FISH YIELD
VALUED AT $50,000,000
At a Rota y Club meeting held
in Prince Rupert recently, John
Dybhavn, president of the Ca
nadian Fisheries Association,
gave an interesting talk accord
ing to the Prince Rupert News.
In his address he * mentioned
that the fisheries were among
the greatest natural resources in
the Dominion of Canada. An
average of 20,000,000 salmon
were caught annually in British
Columbia and from 1,500,000 to
2,000.000 halibut.
Invested in the business was
approximately $62,000,000 of
which $32,000,000 was in BrUish\
Columbia and $12,000,000 in the
Prince Rupert district.
ine value of the catch a
mounted to about $50,000,000 of
which $11,000,000 came from the
Prince Rupert district.
Mr. Dybhavn told of the in
vestigation ? that were going on
including the life history of fish,
much of which was still obscure.
For instance, it had been
thought that the life of the
pink salmon was two years but
this was not at all sure and it
was now being checked up.
There wa? reason to believe
that possibly former ideas in re
gard to this and other matters
were wrong.
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FILL TO LIMIT SHIP—
CANNERIES IS CONSIDERED
In a hearing before the House
Committee on Merchant Marine
:mcl Fisheries, on a bill to limit
operations of floating canneries
in Alaska waters, Delegate Suth
erland renewed his long stand
ing fight on the personnel of the
United States Bureau of Fish
eries, charging them with pro
tecting monopolies of fishing
rights through favoritism in ad
ministration of regulations. He
opposed any extension of the au
thority of the Commissioner of
Fisheries,
He asserted the trouble was
not with the law but with the
manner in which it was admin
istered by Henry O’Malley, Com
missioner of Fisheries.
Mr. O’Malley, who preceded
the Delegate before the Com
mittee, testified the bureau need
ed the bill under consideration
to enable it to efficiently pro
tect the salmon runs in Alaska
by making it possible to know
in advance of the season how
extensive the fishing would be.
The measure was introduced
by Representative Welch, Re
publican of California. It would
require cannery operators to
serve notice in advance of their
operating programs. It would
prohibit, also, the operation of
any individual cannery at more
than one location in any single
season thus striking directly at
floating canneries which move
from one area to another as the
runs occur.
OW,. W. J. Peterson. repre
senting the Ship Owners’ As
sociation of the Pacific Coast,
sponsored the bill, declaring it
was for protection against “fish
ermen bootleggers” which, he
added, referred only to floating
plants.
Peter Olsen, President of the
Alaska Fishermen’s Union of
San Francisco, also supported
the me?t5ure. He declared the
floating canneries “go up there
and take as much as thev want,
reducing the supply of fish and
disorganizing the regulations.”
Representative Welch, author
of t.h^ hfli. declared the floating
cannerymen “come from no
where and go anywhere they
please,”
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CANADIAN GOSSE ASKS FOR
FISH TRAPS
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R. J. Gosse, prominent packer
of salmon in Canadian waters,
recently declared that only the
number of salmon should be tak
en from the waters that were in
excess of those needed for per
petuation of the run; that only
r\ fFicient men should be employ
ed who could obtain adequate
returns for their efforts, and
that capital should be restricted
1c that point where a fair re
in n would be earned on the in
vestment. j
Advocates Use of Traps
“The British Columbia pack
represents one-fifth of the total
on tput of the world,” he stated.
“We take for granted, that, in
the case of canned salmon, as
with any other product, you must
have an article of acceptable
quality or you cannot sell it. If
veu do sell an inferior quality,
you not only must take a small
er return, but lose what is hard
er to regain—our reputation in
world markets.
“The fishing methods employ
ed in British Columbia offer a
constant temptation to trans
port fish too great distances. In
American waters, including Alas
ka, in Siberian and Japanese
waters, the majority of the fish
are taken in traps. They are
caught in large quantities at a
time, are transported quickly to
adjacent plants and are process
ed while in the freshest possible
conditi m. ensuring a first qual
ity product.
No Fish Traps in Canada
“In B C. waters, with the ex
ception of one isolated case, the
fish are 100 per cent taken in
gill nets and seines. I am not
advocating either the universal
or even greatly extended use of
traps in B. C. We do contend
however, that if we are to con
tinue to emoioy our present
methods of fishing, then steps
must be taken to insure the de
livery of the raw material to the
canneries in a condition which
will make possible the packing
of an article which will compare
favorably with that turned out
in other countries.”—Canadian
Fisherman.