Daily Sitka Sentinel & Arrowhead Pres*r
Page Four Tuesday, September 13, 1955
FWS hearing
itics had influence* some FWS
decisions in the past, pointing
to an incident at Klawock. He
also stated many boats had
mere gear than that allowed
by law during the last season.
'Mr. 'McKernan replied that
size df gear will be looked into
carefully the coming season.
Also that if any member of his
staff wtas involved in political
activities or acting as the re
sult of political pressure, the
incident should be reported to
him; if guilty, the person in
question would be fired.
“I look at the problem of the
gear fight like this,” said the
fisheries head. “T think it is
bad for a conservation agency
to (get into the gear fight. I
would like to stay out of the
gear fight and (think about
the conservation of the fish.
If is a political, economic and
social prdblem, but the fisher
social prdblem, but in the fish
eries the idea is to get fish back
and not worry over who is go
ing to catch the last fish.”
trie men interjected a bit ot
humor into the hearings (by de
fining an expert as: ‘ex” e
qualing an unknown quantity
and “spurt” a drip under pres
sure.
William Sutton, a fisherman
for many years, next spoke. He
told of his experiences in the
Bristol Bay area , that there
was a good run there after the
war-years as well as in South
eastern Alaska; now Bristol
Bay fishing s at a new low. He
asked wihy Japanese were per
mitted to catch American fish
on the high seas, they are get
ting most of the fish Which
should come to Alaska.
Mr. McKerman answered that
this was a evry serious problem
that in 1964 Japanese took be
tween 40 and 50 million fish on
MT. EDGECUMBE NOTES
dorm, came to Mt. Edgecumibe
from Independence, Missouri,
although most recently 'he and
Mrs. Fleming have ibeen living
in Seattle.
Charles McFadden. now teach
ing art at iMt. Edgeoumfbe, came
here from 'Silver City, New Mex
ico, where 'he graduated from
New Mexico Western Collge.
Central Labor Council
Meets
1st and 3rd TUESDAYS
—Carpenters Hall—
Daily Sitka Sentine:
WANT ADS.
WANTED: Apartment size
Hida-foed; good condition.
Black 183. (15)
LIBERAL REWARD for return
Ladies white gold Bulova
wrist watch, lost Saturdy.
Phone 488 after 5 p. m. (c)
FOR SALE: Airflow range,
with coils. Red 318. (13)
WOMAN, graduate, experi
enced' comptometer opera
tor. cash clerk, bookkeeper,
typing. Box 799. (13)
COLISEUM
STARTS TONIGHT at 7 and 9
Ray Middleton and
Lucille Norman in
SWEATHEART ON PARADE
in Color
Drama Every Woman
Remembers
Cartoon — News
the high seas and about 55 mil ■
lion this year. Most were taken ,
close to the shore of Kamchatka ]
as they fis'h to within 20 miles
of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Japanese, he said, claim
these are Russian fish; the U.
S. feels at least some of them
are American fish. However,
all parties have agreed that if
it can be proven American
fish are being taken, the Jap
anese have signed a treaty to
cease fishing there. A tagging
program is underway now in
an attempt to identify these
fish.
Pete Haugen of Marine Sup
ply Co. and an Alaskan since
1918. asked that regulations be
more flexible; FWS agents on
the ground should have author
ity to extend or curtail season
based on actual inspection. He
was informed the FWS could
open or close a season on 36
i hours notice, the time it took
| to get the order published in
j the Federal Register.
| Andrew Wanamaker oi Jun
j eau asked three questions: what i
• good comes from fish wiens. is j
J it true Japanese fishermen use ,
| very large nets and do the FWS j
close fish traps as often as they j
stop other types of (gear from
operating. Mr. McKernan ex
plained wiers were placed on
test streams in different areas
to give positive knowledge of
the numlber of fish migrating
I in that area, the twb, he said,
are working on other means of
counting fisih. He agreed that,
Japanese gillne'ts are very long]
and stated traps are never open!
when seiners are prohibited j
from fishing the same area.
Next speaker was David Ho-;
ward, Sr., who asked what pos
siibility there was of getting j
areas open for fall fishinlg of j
chutmts, if the run showed' up
well. In reply. Mr. McKernan
said chum runs were very low
this year: however, if there is
evidence oif a big run the FWS
will .want these fish harvested,
so if the run is good, they will
allow more fishing. Presetn in
dications are not for a big
churn run, he said.
HERRING SITUATION
The session then turned its
attention to herring, a metter
on which Mr. McKernan com
mented “We know you people
have very definite ideas and
we know you are experienced
in this field. My mind is still
open and we don’t know much
about Alaska herring yet. I
will be very happy to consider
all the evdence you have. I am
here to show you why we have
done what we have done, but
my mind is not closed and I am
willing to consider all angles
of this herring situation.”
“The purpose of our policy,”
he continued, “is to make our
supplies of fish available for
maximum utilization consistent
with the best mianaigement pra
ctices.” He went on to say the
1955 regulations provided for
a 50,000 barrel limit in the She
likofif area and another 50,000
barrels in another area to the
! south. Herrings seiners were
finally 9,000 barrels short of
this quota in the south. He re
lated he knew local fishermen
felt there was evidence the de
cline of herring parallels the
decline of salmon, but stated
scientific data did not indicate
this. There are four major
spawning areas in Alaska, he
stated, and the majority of her
ring taken came from Shelikof
Bay.
Studies have shown that her
ring do not migrate to any
considerable extent, he ex
plained, some 60 to 100 miles
being the usual distance, and
the stocks of herring are fair- i
ly well siigreigated. Coromer
cial fishing for many years
has (been on the Sitka papula I
tion of herring. Records indi- (
cate tremendous fluctuations
since 1929 in the Sitka her- |
ing population. Also records ;
ndicate the Sitka population
)f herring this year is high,
iowever, violent fluctuations |
n herring population are char
icteristic of this type of* fish, j
le explained.
Production of herring 'hast
remained aibout steady in Brit I
sh Columbia since 1910. he
dated, while herring popula
tion has fluctuated with the
years. In general there does
not appear to be any relation
ship 'between troll caught sal
mon and herring fluctuations,
as salmon catches have re
mained fairly constant.
Also herring fluctuate wide
ly, too. in success of spawn
ing on the beach. Some sea
sons are dominant year class
es; others are nearly a com
plete failure. The Canadians
use the theory that the maxi-;
mum yield of herring will be
best maintained iby maximum
fishing. As explanation for the
smaller runs of herring, he
said “>W€ think a series of
poor spawning years is the
reason for the lack of her
ring.”
Mr. »eud then presen tea a
number of charts and graphs
backing up the PWS thmkinlg
on herring, its relation to sal
mon, area of spawning this
year, etc. In summarizing the
presentation Mr. McKernan
said: “It looks to us as though
herring populations are sub
ject to violent fluctuations in
dependent of fishing, and we
think when these populations
are abundant, they should be
harvested. We think the pres
ent fishery is a minute fish
ery. We propose to continue
restricting purse seining on
herring. We are expanding
our research work into the
spawning, dominant year class
etc. and (hope to learn more
all the time about these rela
tionships.”
Myrth Sarvela of the North
ern Fishing Vessel Owners
Assn, stated the fishermen ap
predated what the biologists {
aave done and appreciated the
PWS advice, but “our herring
population in Southeast Alas-1
tea was destroyed before you'
'MeKernan) got this evi- j
derace.” She read from a book j
published in 1885 describing!
the abundance of herring pres
ent here then, and from the
governor’s report of 1920 to
support the contention herring
had always existed here in
huge quantities.
L. C. Berg told of Wrangell
Narrows teeming with herring
and asserted the reduction
plants have depleted the sup
ply. Andrew Wanarraaker, stat
ing there was almost no her
ring spawn in Juneau this
year, said if they were all net
ted before spawning, there
would be no more herring.
Pete Crews, a troller. stated
he believed king salmon fol
lowed herring schools; when
the spawning grounds were
killed off, an area took years
to build back up. Chatham
Straits once were filled with
herring, but the runs were de
pleted by reduction plants, he
contended.
Pete Haugen told of precau
tions taken in Canada to pre
serve herring runs. Adolph
Thomsen, who has fished
since 1917, Said there had been
no herring in Tenakee Inlet
since intensive fishing for re
duction purposes there in 1938
Mrs. Sarvela asked the her
ring fishery toe protected on
the spawning (grounds, as local
fishermen believe the Sitka
population of herring is the
only large school outside of
Tongass Narrows. If this Sit
ka herring population was
left alone, it might again be
abundant as in the early days.
Mr. Scud stated 70 to 80 per
cent of commercial herring
taken has been (from the Sitka
population tout the past year
the FWS forced the herring
seiners to fish other areas and
also to fish 'later than usual.
In conclusion Mrs. Sarvela
asked 'that new regulations be
drawn so that no more than
10,000 barrels were taken in
any one area as a “means of
saving our herring popula
tion.”
CAN CLEVELAND BEAT
THE WASHINGTON TEAM
by The Associated Press
Can Cleveland’s IV2 game
lead survive the Washington
jinx? That’s the next question
in the American league pennant
quiz — and the flag may be
riding on the answer.
The Indians look like they
may have packed away the pen
nant when they came from be
hind to earn ia douibleheader
split Sunday against the second
place New York Yankees, but
Tribe manager Al Lopez re
mains cautious. He’s not predic
ting a thing “until after to
night’s two games at Washing
ton.
“If we get by Washington,”
says Looez. “we ought to be in
an excellent nosition, although
. it still won’t be a cinch. I still
> think it will be be real tough
all the way.”
The senators, a whopping 36
; games behind, somehow have
managed to take five straight
i from the Indians while whip
ping them in 12 of 19 games
so far. No other club has an
edge over the Tribe this season
OAKLAND TO MOVE NORTH
TO VANCOUVER
SEATTLE UP) A switch of
the Pacific coast league’s Oak
land Ifhanchise to Vancouver,
B. C., apparead today to be
only a formal announcement la
way.
Side talk during an emergen
cy session of POL directors
here yesterday indicated that
only three minor items were
left to be iresolvd Ibfore the lea
gue gives its (official blessing
to the move.
i ■.uiwui'i—him
Special Sales
Items Each
Wednesday
kSSflS
It sure pays to shop on
Wednesday — Get in on
the Surprise Values!
Bayview Cafe
Brownie's Shoe Shop
Burlison's
Blue Lake Farms
Cold Storage Hardware
Connie's Dress Shop
The Hobby Shop
Harbor Coffee Shop
Harbor Market
Market Center
Neill Andersen's
Reed's Cash Market
Sitka Music Store
Sitka Bazaar
Star Cafe
Stoft's 5 & 10
Tilson & Sons
Triune Service
Wortman's Drug Store
Vi's Apparel Shoo
Listen ToKlFW-KSEW For MORE DETAILS'
SAVE in SITKA SHOP in SITKA
^^^^^Retai^rade^ommittee--Sitka Chamber of Commerce