54 



THE MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION OF SALMON 



streams will dominate the fishery through- 

 out the areas in which they are travelling 

 but this domination may be masked to some 

 extent by the runs to smaller coastwise 

 areas. It would appear that those salmon 

 which leave the southern rivers do not travel 

 as far north as those from the northern 

 streams before they turn back. Such being 

 the case, the Columbia River's contribution 

 to the fishery would be diminishing as we 

 went north while that for the Fraser River 

 would appear to be increasing. In other 

 words, the area in which a run from any 

 large river dominates the fishery has a 

 northern limit. Such a condition is indi- 

 cated in the vicinity of the northern Queen 

 Charlotte Islands where the number of fish 

 from the Columbia appears to have become 

 less and those from the Fraser greater. It is 

 only to be expected that what might be 

 termed inshore tagging would result in a less 

 extensive and more local distribution of 

 migrants. 



Such is the general picture as portrayed 

 by tagging operations and related data. 

 Further work may clarify many of the fea- 

 tures and may lead to the discovery of the 

 causes for certain reactions. It is not prob- 

 able, however, that the idea of a general 

 northwesterly migration of young fish and 

 the southeasterly return based to a large 

 extent on circumstantial evidence, will be 

 materially altered. 



The Migration of Sockeye Salmon 



Before dealing with the more recent 

 tagging of sockeye salmon, mention should 

 be made of the first experiment with this 

 species in British Columbia. In 1918, Dr. 

 Rich and Dr. C. MacLean Fraser tagged 831 

 fish at the traps near Sooke. The results 

 published by Dr. Rich and Mr. Henry 

 'Malley showed a definite, migration route 

 eastward through the Strait of Juan de 

 Fuca to the Washington coast, thence north- 

 ward through Rosario Strait, past Boundary 

 Bay and Point Roberts to the Fraser River. 



In 1925, 519 sockeye were tagged at Deep 

 Water Bay, on Johnstone Strait. Omitting 

 the fish recaptured at the point of tagging, 

 83 per cent of the returns were from the 



Fraser River, and another 8 per cent from 

 near the mouth of the river. A definite 

 migration route from the northwest through 

 Johnstone Strait to the Fraser River was 

 thus demonstrated. 



Among the 519 fish, 259 had the olfactory 

 nerves severed before liberation. Of these 

 42 fish or 16 per cent were recaptured, of 

 which 33 per cent were taken in the tagging 

 area, 55 per cent in the Fraser River and 12 

 per cent in other areas. Of the normal fish 

 65 or 24 per cent were recaptured, 4.5 per 

 cent in the tagging area, 91 per cent in the 

 Fraser River and 4.5 per cent in other areas. 

 Making due allowance for some physiologi- 

 cal disturbance resulting from the operation 

 it is evident that the fish were able to make 

 their way to the Fraser River without the 

 use of the olfactory sense organ. 



In 1928, 402 sockeye were obtained from 

 traps at Point Roberts, transported in a boat 

 equipped with a live-well and liberated after 

 tagging at various points in the Fraser 

 River from the mouth to Matsqui. Fifty- 

 four tags were returned, of which 12 were 

 taken upstream from, 13 in the vicinity of 

 and 29 downstream from the point of libera- 

 tion. The figures are not significant in 

 themselves because of the varied relation 

 between the point of release to the fishing 

 area. They do show that movement up- 

 stream is not always a steady progression. 

 There are instances of intervals 15, 22 and 

 30 days between release and recapture in 

 the river. Of fish liberated at the mouth of 

 the river one was recaptured in the trap at 

 Point Roberts five days later, and two others 

 were not recaptured for 36 and 40 days, one 

 at the mouth of the river and the other 15 

 miles upstream. 



Taking advantage of the temporary opera- 

 tion of a trap at Haystack Island near the 

 entrance to Portland Inlet in 1925, 659 sock- 

 eye were tagged during the first three weeks 

 of August. Sixty-five per cent of the re- 

 turns were from the Nass River, 10 per cent 

 from the Skeena River and 20 per cent from 

 Alaskan waters. Of the latter 5 per cent 

 were from nearby areas, but 15 per cent 

 were from distant points to as far as 105 

 miles. It is interesting to note that 30 per 



