296 ’ REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 
obstructions and the use of methods of assisting propagation have 
received attention. 
As required by the understandings attached to the treaty, the Com- | 
mission has chosen an Advisory Committee from the industry. It | 
has also chosen a scientific council with which the Director of Investi- | 
gations and staff can consult. 
During 1939, the Commission met in Vancouver on July 2, 3, and 4. 
The midwinter meetings were held in December 1938 in Ottawa and 
January 1940 in Washington, D. C. The Advisory Committee met 
with the Commission during the July meetings. The Scientific Council 
met with the Director in August. 
At these meetings the Commission discussed and approved the pro- 
gram necessary. It agreed upon the funds required, since the money 
appropriated by the respective Governments would decide whether 
this program could be carried out. Furthermore, since the expenses 
of the Commission are joint in character, to be discharged in equal 
shares by the two Governments, the smaller of the two appropriations 
made must be the limiting one, and it was agreed that a special effort 
must be made to secure the needed amount from both. 
The needs of the Commission are evident from the nature of its 
duties. Once established, the main features of the research program 
must be continued from year to year until-the necessary information 
is obtained over at least one cycle. The sockeye of the Fraser River 
tends to return as a 4-year-old, so that the runs occur in cycles of 4 
years. The runs of each year of the four are assumed by current scien- 
tific opinion to be more or less independent, very likely composed of 
different “races” occupying each a home stream to which it returns. 
Within a 4-year cycle each such race would therefore recur and any 
program to determine these races, their characteristics and home 
streams, must cover at least 4 years. Furthermore, the initial investi- 
gations must, of course, be exploratory and preliminary, as they have 
been in 1988 and 1939, and it must be expected that the funds required 
will increase as the program matures. 
During the meetings in 1939, the Commission discussed and ap- 
proved the extensions of the program it considered vital for the pur- 
poses of the Convention. With the “thorough investigation into 
natural history” already well under way, it was considered that the 
remaining duties of the Commission, as stated by the Convention, 
should receive attention by certain extensions of its program. These 
extensions are those specifically called for by the Convention. They 
cover the adoption of methods of assisting propagation and the study 
of obstructions, natural or artificial, in order that recommendations 
might be made regarding them. The Commission unanimously de- 
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