traps and trap sites. Some bill
will pass Congress soon for their
control. Why not pass .a bill
which will fully protect the
public interest when it can be
v.one without danger to those
interests?
Trap sites are now owned and
controlled under the law of pri
or possession and occupancy by
trap fishermen, who acknowl
edge no right to the Bureau of
Fisheries to control or license
them, except the right to pre
vent them from catching fish.
If the bill presented to you
should be enacted into law, the
situation will be far better than
it is now, for then, while the
same trap fishermen may be in
possession of the same trap
sites, that possession will be
limited and controlled by the
provisions of this bill, and the
trap site will no longer be an
outlaw. The possession will be
limited by a short term lease
with such limitations as will en
able the Bureau of Fisheries to
control its use. The owner-al
so will pay a reasonable fee for
the fish the trap takes,, and
there will also be peace in re
spect to possession. There can
be no loss to the United States
or to the Territory, but a de
cided gain both in control and
in license fees.
Trap men have owned and
controlled these trap sites for
fifty years, without themselves
being limited or controlled in
their possessory rights. The bill
under discussion will change all
that, in the interest of the pub
lic, and permit public owner
ship and control of these im
portant adjuncts to the public
fisheries.
Trap Sites Under the Acts of
1924 and 1926
After a careful examination,
of the language giving power to
the Secretary of Commerce to
control the fisheries of Alaska,
contained in Section One of the
Acts of June G, 1924, and June
18, 1626, it is my judgment that
if the Secretary should, by rules
and regulations, provide for
giving trap fishermen an exclus
ive license to construct and
maintain fish traps on then long
used sites, the courts might sus
tain his power and authority to
do so.
Such a trap and trap site
would not constitute the grant
of an “exclusive or several right
of fishery,” for the law recog
nizes them as legal fishing gear,
and if it should be so held all
traps would now be barred from
fishing, for they constitute an
exclusive right In the area oc
cupied by them. No court has
yet held the Secretary may thus
control trap sites, and no at
tempt has yet been made by the
Secretary to exercise that power,
but conditions may reach the
point where he will do so. In
my judgment the bill under
consideration is much more fa
vorable to the public interest
and to the private interests of
Alaskans than the exercise of
such unlimited power by the Se
cretary of Commerce.
The President’s Power to Cre
ate Fish Reservations
In the case of Alaska Pacific
Fisheries, et al, v. United States,
240 Fed. 274, the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth
Circuit, laid down the rule that
"The United States, as to the
Territory of Alaska, exercises
all sovereignty, national and
municipal, and hence, in view
of the powers of the King pv
er lands flowed by the tide,
United States has complete
control over Alaskan waters
flowed by the tide which are
within its maritime jurisdic
tion. CONSEQUENTLY, THE
PRESIDENT. IN VIEW OF
HIS POWERS TO RESERVE
PUBLIC LANDS, MAY, TO
CARRY OUT THE PURPOSE
OF AN ACT OF CONGRESS,
RESERVE SUCH WATERS.”
In other words, if it seems ne
cessary to carry out the pur
poses of the Acts of Congress of
June 6, 1924 and June 18, 1926,
the President may reserve all
the trap sites in Alaska, and
place them under the manage
ment and control of the Secre
tary of Commerce. And if the
President should reserve such
sites and the traps and fish
caught thereon would not be
subject to taxation or any levy
of license tax or other control
by the Territory of Alaska.
Territory v. Annette Island
_ Packing Co., 6 Alaska, 581.
Territory v. Annette Island
Packing Co., 289 Fed. 671
Certiorari denied: 2C3 U. S.
708, 68, L. Ed. 517.
In short, it will be dangerous
to ti*e public interests and to
Alaska ' fishermen, if the trap
sites shall be reserved by the
Rules and Regulations of the
Secretary' of Commerce under
Acts of 1924 and 1926 or by an
executive order by the President
of the United States. If reserv
ed in either way they may be
come, thereby, instrumentalities
of the United States, and not
subject to taxation in any form
Continued on Page 10
The Fairbanks College
The Committee on Rules,
Election and Election Laws? to
whom had been referred the
appointment by the Governor,
subject to the confirmation by
the Senate, of Mr. M. E. Stevens,
Mr. Andrew Nerland, Mr. John
H. Kelly and Mr. J. W. Gilson as
members of the Board of Trus
tees of the Alaska Agricultural
College and School of Mines, re
ported back with the recom
mendation that the appoint
ment of each and all of the per
sons named be confirmed. The
report was signed by Mr. Di
mond as chairman and concur
red in by Messrs. Hess and Steel.
These men have since been
confirmed.