Northwest History. Fishing Commercial. Lagislation.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1927
• Subjects: Tedious pastimes; watching; silver dollars; swim; briny deep; forbidden; net; literally; situation; big; Alaska; fishing operators; new; government regulations; preservation; salmon; Steve Selig; Ketchikan trap owner; wife; arrived; fishing; right; height of the run; declared; tried out; passed out; boat; swimming; mouths of the streams; go; new car; trip to the states; best; Alaska's vital industry ;getting upstream; spawn; extinct; worst offenders; natives; lay in; wait; activities; curtailed; net owners; automobiles; per mile of road; section of the world; boast; town; travel; fourteen miles; Eight miles; construction; enjoyment; expensive; cars; Northwest,Pacific > History > 20th Century; United States > Fishing Commercial > 20th Century; Pacific; Ketchikan
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/114944

FISHERMEN WATCH MILLIONS SWIM BY. FISHERMEN WATCH MILLIONS SWIM BY SEATTLE, Jan. 17.—Tedious pastimes—watching thousands of silver dollars swim past you in the briny deep and forbidden to dip your net. That, almost literally, is the situation of the big Alaska fishing operators because of new government regulations looking to the preservation of the salmon, according to Steve Selig, Ketchikan trap owner, who, with his wife, arrived yesterday. "We have to stop fishing for a month right at the height of the run," Selig declared. "The first year it was tried out, I nearly passed out. There right under my boat were hundreds of thousands of salmon swimming toward the mouths of the streams and me letting them go. I saw a new car, a trip to the states, and a few other things swimming past. "But it's for the best because it means the preservation of one of Alaska's vital industries. So few salmon were getting upstream to spawn that eventually the species would have become extinct. The worst offenders were the natives who lay in wait for the salmon upstream. Their activities are curtailed as well as those of the net owners." Ketchikan has more automobiles per mile of road than any other section of the world, according to Selig's proud boast. The town has 580 automobiles to travel over fourteen miles of automobile road. Eight miles more is under construction. But we get as much enjoyment out of our fourteen miles as you do out of your thousands of miles of roads," he declared. "And we have expensive cars up our way, too."