er boats, will not be able to make a living balling inside waters. This same condition applies to a large ex
tent to small and large halibut boat fishermen. (
WHERE REDUCTION PLANTS MAY CATCH THEHt UERKINC.
lou will note, that according to our petition, the reduction plants may still continue to operate, it they
will catch their herring out3ide the three mile limit.
REDUCTION PLANTS NOT NECESSARY IN CONNECTION UiTll HERRING l'OOD PACKING PLANTS.
Ihe argument that herring cannot be packed tor food purposes without the addition of a reduction plant,
or otherwise the small herring will be wasted, has no foundation, lor as our petition asks that gill nets
limited to not less man 2 %, in. siretciied measure may be used for catching herring for food purposes inside
the three mile limit, all herring caught in this manner, will be of a size fit for packing for human consump
tion, and all small herring will pass through the gill nets and will not be injured or distroyed.
REDUCTION PLANTS FURNISHING BAIT HERRING.
llie idea that an arrangement can be made whereby the reduction plants will agree to furnish bait to
King Salmon and Halibut fisherman, is also out of the question, with their present method of operation, as
herring used for bait, except during the late months of the year, are not fit for bait without having first
ponded them, and allowing the feed to pasa out of them. If this is not done, the feed with which they are
filled, will cause them to spoil in a very few days. No halibut boat can take that kind of bait and use it for
offshore fishing, if they expect to remain offBhore more than a few days.
WHERE HERRING MAY BE PONDED.
To pond herring it is necessary to get them in some bight along shore, where a net can be stretched
around them which touches bottom, and whose ends can be fastened a3hore. If towed in a seine any dis
tance or roughly handled in any way they will be killed. Therefore ponding herring for any purpose may
only be done in insida waters, and those inside waters must he protected for this purpose, and also so as to
permit gillnet fishing for food purposes. It must also be borne in mind that all herring used for bait are
for the purpose of catching other fish which are used for food purposes.
HERRING FOOD PACKERS AND W ASTING OF HERRING
Special notice must be taken of the fact that our petition does not give the packer who is using herring
for food purposes, any more right to wa3te the herring than those who are using it for other purposes. If
herring that have been ponded are to be used for food, they must be taken put of the pond with gillnets
with meshes not less than 2}4 inches stretched measure. This will therefore not catch the small herring,
and when the larger si2ed herring are taken in this manner from the pond, the pond may be lifted, and
the smaller herring allowed to go uninjured.
AMOUNT OF FOOD HERRING PACKED BY REDUCTION PLANTS
Reduction, plants, in Southeast Alaska are supposed to use a percentage of their catch for food for human
consumption, in California this is not less than 75%.
We have interviewed numbers of women who have been employed in the reduction plants in Southeast
Alaska as gibbers and herring packers Their statement, to a person, is that they are generally stationed
along the elevator bringing the herring from the boats into the plant, and as the herring pass them in the
elevator, which moves Quickly, and on which the herring are piled up, they grab out one occasionally, which is
packed in a barrel, but these few that they pack are a very small percentage of the herring caught, in fact so
small as to be negligible.
They also claim that after the herring have been piled up in the holds of the large seine boats, that few
are fit for food, and that whole boat loads are brought in which are too small for packing for human con
sumption. .
Why shoulnd't these small herring be left to grow to a marketable size and not destroyed for fertilizer?
AMOUNT OF HERRING TAKEN BY REDUCTION PLANTS
In 1926 about 14 reduction plants, with approximately fifty seine boats, caught around one million bar
rels of herring.
In 1927 eighteen or more reduction plants, with over 75 seine boats, caught around four hundred thou
sand barrels.
There was a 36 hour closed season each week in 1927, but the plants were equipped with a great many
more boats, and may of them larger, higher powered and with larger seines than were used previously. Still
the catch was much lew.