Chapter 3547. For the protection and regulation of the fisheries of Alaska
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CHAP. 3547.— An Act For the protection and regulation of the fisheries of Alaska. June 26, 1906. [[H. R. 13543](/us/bill/59/hr/13543).] [[Public, No. 298](/us/pl/59/298).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Alaska. Salmon, etc., canneries. That every person, company, or corporation carrying on the business of canning, curing, or preserving fish or manufacturing fish products within the territory known as Alaska, ceded to the United States by Russia by the treaty of March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, or in any of the waters of Alaska over which the United States has jurisdiction, shall, in lieu of all other license fees and taxes therefor and thereon, pay license taxesLicense tax on products. on their said business and output as follows:
Canned salmon, four cents per case; pickled salmon, ten cents per barrel; salt salmon in bulk, five cents per one hundred pounds; fish oil, ten cents per barrel; fertilizer, twenty cents per ton. The payment and collection of suchCollection.Vol. 30, p. 1336. license taxes shall be under and in accordance with the provisions of the Act of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, entitled “An Act to define and punish crimes in the district of Alaska, and to provide a code of criminal procedure for the district,” and amendments thereto.
Sec. 2. That the catch and pack of salmon made in Alaska by thePrivate hatcheries.Exemption for fry liberated.Rate. owners of private salmon hatcheries operated in Alaska shall be exempt from all license fees and taxation of every nature at the rate of ten cases of canned salmon to every one thousand red or king salmon fry liberated, upon the following conditions; That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may from time to time,Inspection. and on the application of the hatchery owner shall, within a reasonable time thereafter, cause such private hatcheries to be inspected for the purpose of determining the character of their operations, efficiency, and productiveness, and if he approve the same shall cause notice ofApproval. such approval to be filed in the office of the clerk or deputy clerk of the United States district court of the division of the district of Alaska wherein any such hatchery is located, and shall also notify the owners of such hatchery of the action taken by him.
The owner, agent, officer,Proof of amount liberated. or superintendent of any hatchery the effectiveness and productiveness of which has been approved as above provided shall, between the thirtieth day of June and the thirty-first day of December of each year, make proof of the number of salmon fry liberated during the twelve months immediately preceding the thirtieth day of June, by a written statement under oath. Such proof shall be tiled in the office of the clerk or deputy clerk of the United States district court of the division of the district of Alaska wherein such hatchery is located, and when so filed shall entitle the respective hatchery owners to the exemption as herein provided; and a false oath as to the number of salmon fry liberated shall be deemed perjury and subject the offender479 to all the pains and penalties thereof.
Duplicates of such statementsStatements to be filed.Issue of certificates. shall also be filed with the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. It shall be the duty of such clerk or deputy clerk in whose office the, approval and proof heretofore provided for are filed to forthwith issue to the hatchery owner, causing such proofs to be filed, certificates which shall not be transferable and of such denominations as said owner may request (no certificate to cover fewer than one thousand fry), covering in the aggregate the number of fry so proved to have been liberated; and such certificates may be used at any time by the person, company, corporation, or association to whom issued for the payment pro tanto of any license fees or taxes upon or against or on account of any catch or pack of salmon made by them in Alaska; andAcceptance for taxes. it shall be the duty of all public officials charged with the duty of collecting or receiving such license fees or taxes to accept such certificates in lieu of money in payment of all license fees or taxes upon or against the pack of canned salmon at the ratio of one thousand fry for each ten cases of salmon.
No hatchery owner shall obtain theEfficiency required. rebates from the output of any hatchery to which he might other-wise be entitled under this Act unless the efficiency of said hatchery has first been approved by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor in the manner herein provided for. Sec. 3. That it shall be unlawful to erect or maintain any dam,Stationary obstructions for taking salmon in waters, unlawful. barricade, fence, trap, fish wheel, or other fixed or stationary obstruction, except for purposes of fish culture, in any of the waters of Alaska at any point where the distance from shore to shore is less than five hundred feet, or within five hundred yards of the mouth of any red-salmon stream where the same is less than five hundred feet in width, with the. purpose or result of capturing salmon or preventing or impeding their ascent to their spawning grounds, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized and directed to have any and all such unlawful obstructions removed or destroyed.
Sec. 4. That it shall be unlawful to lay or set any drift net, seine,Restriction on nets, seines, etc. set net, pound net, trap, or any other fishing appliance for any purpose except for purposes of fish culture, across or above the tide waters of any creek, stream, river, estuary, or lagoon, for a distance greater than one-third the width of such creek, stream, river, estuary, or lagoon, or within one hundred yards outside of the mouth of any red-salmon stream where the same is less than five hundred feet in width.
It shall be unlawful to lay or set any seine or net of any kind within one hundred yards of any other seine., net. or other fishing appliance which is being or which has been laid or set in any of the waters of Alaska, or to drive or construct any trap or any other fixed fishing appliance within six hundred yards laterally or within one hundred yards endwise of any other trap or fixed fishing appliance. Sec. 5. That it shall be unlawful to fish for, take, or kill any salmonWeekly close season for taking salmon. of any species in any manner or by any means except by rod, spear, or gaff, in any of the waters of Alaska over which the United States has jurisdiction, except Cook Inlet, the Delta of Copper River, Bering Sea, and the waters tributary thereto, from six o’clock post-meridian of Saturday of each week until six o’clock antemeridian of the Monday following, or to fish for, or catch, or kill in any mannerNight seining in small streams prohibited. or by any appliances except by rod. spear, or gaff, any salmon in any stream of less than one hundred yards in width in 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 every day of the week.
ThroughoutRelease of obstructions, etc., during close season. the weekly close season herein proscribed the gate, mouth, or tunnel of all stationary and floating traps shall be closed, and twenty-five feet of the webbing or net of the “heart” of such traps on each side next to the “pot” shall be lifted or lowered in such manner as to permit the free passage of salmon and other fishes. 480 Sec. 6. That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may, in his discretion,Spawn grounds to be set aside. set aside any streams or lakes as preserves for spawning grounds, in which fishing may be limited or entirely prohibited, and when, in his judgment, the results of fishing operations in any stream, or off the mouth thereof, indicate that the number of salmon taken is larger than the natural production of salmon in such stream, he is authorized to establish close seasons or to limit or prohibit fishingClose season authorized. entirely for one year or more within such stream or within five hundred yards of the mouth thereof, so as to permit salmon to increase: *Provided, however,* That such power shall be exercised only after all*Provisos*.Notices required. persons interested shall be given a hearing, of which due notice must be given by publication; and where the interested parties are known to the Department they shall be personally notified by a notice mailed not less than thirty days previous to such hearing.
No order made under this section shall be effective before the next calendar year after same is made: *And provided further,* That such limitations and prohibitionsNot applicable to artificially stocked streams. shall not apply to those engaged in catching salmon who keep such streams fully stocked with salmon by artificial propagation. Sec. 7. That it shall be unlawful to can or salt for sale for food anyCanning prohibited 48 hours after killing. salmon more than forty-eight hours after it has been killed.
Sec. 8. That it shall be unlawful for any person, company, or corporationWanton waste of fish unlawful. wantonly to waste or destroy salmon or other food fishes taken or caught in any of the waters of Alaska. Sec. 9. That it shall be unlawful for any person, company, or corporationFalse branding prohibited. canning, salting, or curing fish of any species in Alaska to use any label, brand, or trade-mark which shall tend to misrepresent the contents of any package of fish offered for sale: *Provided,* That the *Proviso*.Terms permitted. use of the terms “red.
” “medium red,” “pink.” “chum,” and so forth, as applied to the various species of Pacific salmon under present trade usages shall not be deemed in conflict with the provisions of this Act when used to designate salmon of those known species. Sec. 10. That every person, company, and corporation engaged inAnnual reports of fish establishments. catching, curing, or in any manner utilizing fishery products, or in operating fish hatcheries in Alaska, shall make detailed annual reports thereof to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, on blanks furnished by him, covering all such facts as maybe required with respect thereto for the information of the Department.
Such reports shall be sworn to by the superintendent, manager, or other person having knowledge of the facts, a separate blank form being used for each establishment in cases where more than one cannery, saltery, or other establishment is conducted by a person, company, or corporation, and the same shall be forwarded to the Department at the close of the fishing season and not later than December fifteenth of each year. Sec. 11. That the catching or killing, except with rod, spear, or gaff,Provisions applicable to all species of fish of any fish of any kind or species whatsoever in any of the waters of Alaska over which the United States has jurisdiction, shall be subject to the provisions of this Act. and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is hereby authorized to make and establish such rules and regulations not inconsistent with law as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 12. That to enforce the provisions of this Act and such regulationsEnforcement. as he may establish in pursuance thereof, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor is authorized and directed to depute, in addition to the agent and assistant agent of salmon fisheries now provided by law, from the officers and employees of the Department of Commerce andOfficers authorized. Labor, a force adequate to the performance of all work required for the proper investigation, inspection, and regulation of the Alaskan fisheries and hatcheries, and he shall annually submit to Congress estimates to cover the cost of the establishment and maintenance of fish hatcheries in Alaska, the salaries and actual traveling expenses481 of such officials, and for such other expenditures as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 13. That any person, company, corporation, or associationPunishment for violations. violating any provision of this Act or any regulation 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 not more than ninety days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court; and in case of the violation of any of the provisions of section four of this Act and conviction thereof a further fine of not more than two hundred and fifty dollars per diem may, at the discretion of the court, be imposed for each day such obstruction is maintained.
And every vessel or other apparatus orVessels, etc. equipment used or employed in violation of any provision of this Act, or of any regulation made thereunder, may be seized by order of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and shall be held subject to the payment of such tine or fines as may be. imposed. Sec. 14. That the violation of any provision of this Act may beProsecutions. prosecuted in any district court of Alaska or any district court of the United States in the States of California, Oregon, or Washington.
And it shall be the duty of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to enforce the provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations made thereunder. And it shall be the duty of the district attorney to whom any violation is reported by any agent or representative of the Department of Commerce and Labor to institute proceedings necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Sec. 15. That all Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisionsInconsistent laws repealed. of this Act are, so far as inconsistent, hereby repealed.
Sec. 16. That this Act shall take effect and be in force from andEffect. after its passage. Approved, June 26, 1906.