Chapter 387. To amend an Act entitled “An Act to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska.” June 9, 1896. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Salmon fisheries, Alaska
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CHAP. 387.— An Act To amend an Act entitled “An Act to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska.” June 9, 1896. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Salmon fisheries, Alaska.Vol. 25, p. 1009, amended. That the Act approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and entitled “An Act to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska,” is hereby amended and reenacted as follows:
Obstructions in stream a preventing ascent of salmon prohibited.“That the erection of dams, barricades, fish wheels, fences, or any such fixed or stationary obstructions in any part of the rivers or streams of Alaska, or to fish for or catch salmon or salmon trout in any manner or by any means with the purpose or result of preventing or impeding the ascent of salmon to their spawning ground, is declared tube unlawful, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to remove such obstructions and to establish and enforce such regulations and surveillance as may be necessary to insure that this prohibition and all other provisions of law relating to the salmon fisheries of Alaska are strictly complied with.
FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Chs. 387, 394. 1896. 317 " “Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful to fish, catch, or kill any salmon ofFishing prohibited above tide waters, except with rod or spear. any variety, except with rod or spear, above the tide waters of any of the creeks or rivers of less than five hundred feet width in the Territory of Alaska, except only for purposes of propagation, or to lay or set any drift net, set net, trap, pound net, or seine for any purpose acrossNets, etc., in tide waters. the tide waters of any river or stream for a distance of more than one-third of the width of such river, stream, or channel, or lay or set any seine or net within one. hundred yards of any other net or seine which is being laid or set in said stream or channel, or to take, kill, or fish forTotal prohibition Saturdays. salmon in any manner or by any means in any of the waters of the Territory of Alaska, either in the streams or tide waters, except Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, Bering Sea, and the waters tributary thereto, from midnight on Friday of each week until six o’clock antemeridian of the Sunday following; or to fish for or catch or kill in anyNo fishing at night except by rod or spear. manner or by any appliances, except by rod or spear, any salmon in any stream of less than one hundred yards in width in the said Territory of Alaska between the hours of six o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning of the following day of each and everyday of the week.
“Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury may, at his discretion,Spawning grounds. set aside any streams as spawning grounds, in which no fishing will be permitted; and when, in his judgment, the results of fishing operationsClose seasons. on any stream indicate that the number of salmon taken is larger than the capacity of the stream to produce, he, is authorized to establish weekly close seasons, to limit the duration of the fishing season, or to prohibit fishing entirely for one year or more, so as to permit salmon to increase: *Provided, however*, That such power shall be exercised only*Provisos*.Notice. after all persons interested shall have been given a hearing, of which hearing due notice must be given by publication: *And provided further*, That it shall have been ascertained that the persons engaged in catchingHatcheries. salmon do not maintain fish hatcheries of sufficient magnitude to keep such streams fully stocked.
“Sec. 4. That to enforce the provisions of law herein, and such regulationsInspectors authorized. as the Secretary of the Treasury may establish in pursuance thereof, he is authorized and directed to appoint one inspector of fisheries, at a salary of one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum, and two assistant inspectors, at a salary of one thousand six hundred dollars each per annum, and be will annually submit to Congress estimates to cover the salaries and actual traveling expenses of the officers hereby authorized and for such other expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the law herein.
“Sec. 5. That any person violating the provisions of this Act or thePunishment for violations. regulations established in pursuance thereof shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisonment at hard labor for a term of ninety days, or both such fine, and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court; and, further, in case of the violation of any of the provisions of section one of this Act and conviction thereof a further fine of two hundred and fifty dollars per diem will lie imposed for each day that the obstruction or obstructions therein are maintained.
” " Approved, June 9, 1896.