sufficient luiiiiluM- of luiiles are eoi- 

 ralled. workers kill (he lish b v sharp 

 blows on the top of the head. The 

 salmon are hiid in a row, three fe- 

 males and a male, and so on. The 

 tail of each tish is cut to drain blood 

 from the body so that the blood will 

 not later become mixed with (he 

 eggs and interfere with fertiliza- 

 tion. 



The spawntake • holds a female 

 salmon vertically by inserting one 

 hand in the gills, with the back of 

 the fish hanging between his knees. 

 The vent is held just above a 10- 

 to 14-quart pail or bucket. A knife, 

 usually one specially made for this 

 operation is inserted in the vent and 



drawn upward toward the head, the 

 body wall being cut to one side of 

 the ventral fins and to (he top of the 

 body cavity (fig. \-^}. If the eggs 

 are fully se})arated. (liey will poui' 

 into the bucket. 



After the eggs have been stripped 

 from about three females, which is 

 done rapidly, the sperm of a male 

 is extruded into the i)ail and thor- 

 oughly hand-mixed with the eggs. 

 ( )ften a small amount of sperm will 

 be placed in the bottom of the bucket 

 before eggs are placed therein, and 

 sperm may be introduced after eggs 

 have been taken from each female. 



The foregoing process may be re- 

 peated until the bucket is about two- 



FiGiRE 12. — Spawning cliinook salmon at the Coleman (Calif.), Hatchery of the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service : Left — eggs being removed from female ; right — extrud- 

 ing spermatozoa from male onto eggs. 



27 



