711.428/653
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Geddes)
Excellency: I have the honor to inform you that on June 6, 1921, the Senate of the United States agreed to a resolution requesting the President to negotiate on behalf of the United States a treaty or [Page 671] treaties for the protection from unnecessary destruction, through wasteful practices, devices and methods of capture, of salmon in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of the United States including the Territory of Alaska, and of the Dominion of Canada, beyond the limits of the territorial waters.3
The Secretary of Commerce informs this Department that from facts disclosed by the investigation of the Bureau of Fisheries he is led to believe that the regulation of salmon fishing beyond the three-mile limit of the coasts of the United States, Canada and Alaska should be controlled by a treaty, by which the two governments would undertake to prevent the landing of fish taken beyond the three-mile limit and to provide for suitable penalties for attempts to make such landings.
The Secretary of Commerce has brought to the attention of this Department facts which seem to show that cooperative action by the Governments of the United States and Canada for the protection of these deep sea salmon fisheries is desirable.
Fishermen are, by various devices, taking salmon that are distinctly immature. A conservative estimate is that at least 50 per cent of the catch beyond the three-mile limit is of that character. The taking of these immature fish results in great waste. The immature fish which are being taken weigh from five to ten pounds each, while if left until maturity, the weight would run from twenty to twenty-five pounds each. There is also waste resulting from the spoiling of fish, due to the fact that practically all that are taken by trawl or purse seine in the open ocean are feeding, and their stomachs are filled with food. In a comparatively short time after [being] taken from the water, auto-digestion sets in, and the fish soon become soft and take on a disagreeable odor. There is further waste resulting from injury to the fish that are hooked but not landed.
From investigations made, it seems quite certain that salmon do not start for the inland waters until they are mature. Consequently, if fishing of the character indicated is allowed to continue, salmon fishing in the coastal waters will soon be destroyed.
I should be pleased to be informed as to any views which the British Government or the Canadian Government may be disposed to communicate with reference to the conclusion of a treaty with the United States having for its purpose the protection of the salmon fisheries of the Pacific Ocean in waters beyond the three-mile limit off the coasts of the United States, Alaska and Canada.
Accept [etc.]
- Congressional Record, June 6, 1921, vol. 61, pt. 3, p. 2136.↩