BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES PISH COMMISSION. 265 



stuiic weighing as much as ;'>."> pounds, while of late years scarcely any 

 salmon are caught, and those of less weight. In 1880 the heaviest sal- 

 mon weighed 14.V pounds ; and since rafting has begun, the fisheries, and 

 more especially the salmon fisheries, have decreased still further. 



The lake fisheries of the Gefleborg district. — TheGefle- 

 borg district is rich in lakes and streams, and has in Conner years had 

 very productive freshwater fisheries. It is reported that these fisheries 

 have decreased very much during the last thirty years. Thus the eel 

 fisheries in the Yoxna River about the year 1840 annually yielded from 

 6,000 to 10,000 pounds of eels of the very finest quality, while now the 

 income derived from these fisheries does not pay the expense of carrying 

 them on. The same applies to the salmon fisheries in the Voxna River 

 in its course through the township of Alfta. Formerly these fisheries 

 yielded a good income, but now they hardly pay expenses. In the 

 1 )elanger River, in the township of Idenor, the whitefish fisheries twenty 

 or thirty years ago annually yielded GOO pounds of fish, while scarcely 

 any arc caught now. In this same river many salmon were caught in 

 Cornier years, but now, since rafting is carried on, these fisheries have 

 almost entirely ceased. Rafting has an injurious influence on the fisher- 

 ies in various ways. The refuse from the rafting gathers on the shores 

 of the lakes, whereby the water becomes polluted to such a degree as to 

 kill the young fish. Schools of fish congregate underneath the large 

 rafts aud are killed by the turpentine exudiug from the lumber. During 

 the spawning season rafting injures the fisheries in lakes aud rivers by 

 large masses of lumber driving the water high up on the shores; the 

 fish deposit their spawn in this water, but before it is hatched the water 

 recedes and the spawn, or occasionally young fry, is left on dry land. 



Reports also come from the district of Kopparberg [Falun] that the 

 fisheries have decreased, owing to the same causes as in Gefleborg. 



District of Jemtland. — The. district of Jemtland abounds in 

 huge and small lakes, rivers, streams, aud brooks. Among the lakes 

 the more important are the Stor Lake, the Kalln Lake, and the Strom 

 Lake. The rivers Ljusnan, Ljungan, and Indal in their upper course 

 flow through this district. In those lakes through which no rivers or 

 streams flow the fisheries have not, as a general rule, undergone any 

 change; but the case is very different with those lakes through which 

 tlow rivers on which rafting is done, for here the fisheries have decreased 

 from this cause, aud have actually ceased in some places. The salmon 

 fisheries, which are the most important and which have been carried on 

 with special care, have suffered especially from rafting. Thus it is stated 

 that the salmon fisheries in the Ragunda River, which formerly were 

 very productive, have of late years decreased to such a degree as to 

 render them entirely unprofitable. The cause is stated to be the vast 

 quantity of lumber rafted down the river, which raiting is going on 

 from the beginning of spring till the end of summer, while formerly 

 rafting ended toward the end of June. Massed of lumber are often 



