196 BULLETIN OF TPIE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



liver. This has become entirely extinct on some of the old fishinfj 

 gronnds, and on many others where a man with 500 hooks would take 

 from 300 to 500 dogfish in a night, he would not take that many in an 

 entire season now. 



Then there is the halibut, of which a few years ago a great many 

 were caught in the sound, but now it is a very rare occurrence to catch 

 one. Fishermen have to go into the Fuca Strait for them, and that is 

 also where they get the most dogfish now. 



These fish that 1 have mentioned are the principal ones we ever had in 

 these waters. We have quite a number of smelt and several varieties of 

 flounders, but they are very scarce now, and one cause of this is on account 

 of the Chinese fishermen we had here a few years past, who salted and 

 dried them for the Chinamen in this country. We have also a "perch," 

 a ver3' inferior fish, which brings forth its young alive the same as our 

 dogfish. These '"perch" also are rare. There are some sculpins, and 

 a small fish called a minnow. Then there is tie rock-cod, an excellent 

 fish which is very scarce on the sound now, but ten years ago they were 

 very abundant. 



We have also a good many shrimps, but they are very small ; also 

 four distinct varieties of clams. Oysters are met with in a few parts of 

 the sound, but in limited quantities and of very small size, the largest 

 being about the size of a silver dollar. Cockles and mussels are found. 

 The nuissels are small and inferior, but at Cape Flattery, in Fuca Strait, 

 there is a mussel about 6 inches long, very finely flavored, and of a dif- 

 ferent species from those on the sound. We have four kinds of crabs, 

 and with one exception they are all small and inferior, but the large 

 ones are of the same species as the crabs in California. 



There have never been any laws here to protect the fish, with one ex- 

 ception. Thiswas a law to protect the spawning ground of the herring, 

 which spawn near our fishing ground. It takes in a shore line of about 

 15 miles, but all the other spawning grounds are unprotected. 



Everything — gurry, sawdust, and every description of filth and rub- 

 bish — is thrown into the water. The mill-owners have let the sawdust 

 run into the sound ever since they built their mills; some only a part, 

 but others all of it. 1 am living in a saw-mill town, and the mill-own- 

 ers have thrown most of the sawdust into the water, and the conse- 

 quence is that the bay has filled in about 10 feet since I came here. 



There are many lakes adjacent to the sound with outlets into it. 

 Three miles back from Seattle ]>ay there are three lakes : Washington, 

 about 20 miles long and 3 to 4 miles wjde; Union, 2 miles long and one 

 mile wide ; Green, li miles each way. Ten miles back from Seattle is 

 Samamish Lake, about 10 miles hmg and about two to tbi"ee miles wide. 

 All these lakes have deep water, and are good lakes to stock with all 

 kinds of fresh-water fish. The only fish in them is a species of trout, 

 very few in number, the largest of which are about a foot in length. 



Port Madison, Wash., June 11, 1886. 



