2GG BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



piled up in great heaps, near the banks, causing great damage to the 

 banks and the bottom of the river ; and as it often happens that these 

 piles, when once they get in motion, float down the river very swiftly, 

 they drive back the salmon which have sought shelter near the water- 

 tails. After several futile attempts the salmon become tired and re- 

 main below the lower falls; but even there they are often killed, for it 

 is stated that dead salmon are frequently found among the lumber of 

 the rafts. 



The loss occasioned by the decrease of these formerly very productive 

 fisheries is felt all the more keenly as the shore owners on the Ragunda 

 Lake are obliged to pay annually 7i barrels of salmon to the district 

 of Forssa to indemnify them for the loss of their fisheries in the Ge- 

 dnng River. This obligation dates from the year 1796, when the Ra- 

 gunda owners received permission from the King to open a canal run- 

 ning past the Gedung River, and to drain the Ragunda Lake, which 

 was 2 miles long. The accumulation of lumber which occurs frequently 

 near the place where the Indal River flows into the sea, often covering 

 the entire breadth of the river and sometimes extending even down to 

 the bottom, of course proves a serious hindrance to the salmon in their 

 going up the river. The consequence is that both the river and the 

 lakes connected with it are gradually being deserted by the lish. Ur- 

 gent requests have been addressed* to the commission from Ragunda 

 to have raftiug limited to the time when the water is highest, and to 

 have all lumber which is to be rafted completely barked before it is 

 placed in the water, as the bark pollutes the water, and sometimes en- 

 tirely covers and destroys the spawning places. 



District of Westernorrland. — The fisheries in the lakes and 

 rivers of this district are reported to have decreased considerably from 

 the same causes as in Jemtland, and it is stated that the dams built 

 for saw-mills and other mills and for rafting are constructed in such a 

 manner as to make it impossible for the fish to ascend and descend the 

 .watercourses. From Fjellsjo it is reported that the fisheries have de- 

 creased to such a degree as to render them entirely unprofitable, and it 

 is stated that no one cares to set nets which are in constant danger of 

 being disturbed by rafting. 



District of Westerbotten. — In some parts of this district the 

 freshwater fisheries are said to have decreased, while in others they 

 have remained the same as in former times. This applies particularly 

 to the smaller lakes, through which no rivers flow in which rafting is 

 going on ; while the fisheries have decreased in all those streams where 

 lumber is rafted, and where dams have been constructed. 



District of jSTorrbotten.— The decline of the fisheries in this 

 district is more general than in the more northerly districts. All the 

 reports agree in this with the exception of Lake Storafvan, where the 

 fisheries are the same as in former times. 



Helsingfors, Finland, Russia, November 30, 1884. 



