y. ,, ..... ■ - ..-■■ ■ . 1 —. ■ ■
SECRETBRy KRUE LOOKS AT FISH TRAPS
Not content with action of the «.laskan
territorial legislature calling for regula
tion of salmon traps, Julius Krug, secretary
of the Interior, has submitted a draft of
department^recommended bills for such regu
lation'' to the House and Senate.
;• In 'submitting the drafts to the legisla
tive bodies, Secretary Krug said,."The De
partment-. of . the Interior . , . has"for'some
time been disturbed at this virtual owner
ship of the .public- water.-s. That concern ha's
been heightened by the fact that the control
of the trap sites • has been considered to be
too heavily concentrated into the hands of a
few, large, non-resident packing companies."
Provision for leasing the trap sites, un
der the proposed bills, would go, first-to
an existing operator 'on a preferential ba
dis, second, to Alaskan communities or yill
ages, and third, to^thj highest bidder. -
Leases will’be allowed' in the:amount of
100 percent to present operator s: if the, own
er controls no more than 20 trap- sitefe , 90
percent to operators of 21 to 29 .trap sites,
80 percent to operators with 30 to 39 trap
sites, and 75 percent to operators control
ling 40 or more trap s.ites. .• •$«■/,./ •
Leases are to expire after a 15-year per
iod. There is ‘no provision in the bills for
extension or renewal.
On or bjfore Doc. 1, 1948 tho Secretary
of tho Interior will make public announce
ment of open and unclaimed trap sites, and
will ask for sealed‘bids for tho lease of
such traps. -
ii royalty of 5 percent of the value of
salmon taken in the leased traps will be
collected by the Interior Department, and an
additional 2 percent royalty will be paid by
the operator whose • traps take more than
200,000 fish in a single season. •
' * . . *
pelegate S. L. Bartlett finds the bills
for trap regulation far from satisfactory,
ho has stated. It is
Mr. Bartlett’s belief
that control of Al
aska’s fishing must
be placed in 'the
• hands*- of the terri
tory-.: -•
" ;• : v* i, •
However with weak
kneed iilas kan’.'lr.w-ma
kers content with the
policy c of Vdeciding
that problem next
time we meet,” it
would seem there is
little that the Fed
eral government can
do, but act for us.
The Inferior ^De
apartment had'.request
ed, action of,, tho late
legislature,..apd'got
’.it .in the form of a
measure which decided
that a referendum
would bj held at the
. next election, asking
whether traps should
bo abolished over a
10-year period. Tho
law-makers then sent
a memorial to Secre
tary Krug.asking that
ho Federal action be
taken until the ref
erendum ...is held, and
the legislature 'then
takes action ,on the
result of the refer
endum .
It's ectiohs like
- theit which give the
■ cinti-stetehood inter
ests their strongest
talking points.