PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 75 



or for home use is carried on to a considerable extent along; the main 

 river and also on the Snake and the Yakima, tributaries of the 

 Columbia. In nearly all cases hook and line and spears are used 

 alone, but on the Snake River, near Lewiston, in Idaho, are several 

 rather important haul-seine fisheries. Fishing is carried on at these 

 places in the spring for steelliead trout and in the faU for chinook and 

 silver salmon and steeUiead trout. As many as 25 salmon have been 

 taken at one time. While this may seem a small number to one 

 habituated to the large catches farther down the river, in the aggre- 

 gate it amounts to a considerable quantity. 



Considerable local fishing is carried on along the various Oregon 

 streams above the sections usually fished by commercial fishermen. 

 Most of this is done by ranchers living along the streams, and while 

 by far the greater part is for home consumption a small proportion 

 is sold. 



On the Yukon River and its tributaries considerable salmon fishing 

 is prosecuted. Much of this is done by natives for the use of them- 

 selves and their dogs, l>ut at places white fishermen operate for a 

 portion of the year and sell their catches in near-by settlements or at 

 the mining camps. No effort has ever been made to secure statistics 

 of the ext(Mit of this fishery. 



APPARATUS AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 

 GILL NETS. 



The gill net is the oldest and most popular form of apparatus in 

 use in the salmon fislieries t)f the Pacific coast. There are two kinds, 

 drift and set, these names clearly expressing the difference between 

 them. Fine flax or linen twine is generally used in their manufac- 

 ture, althoudi in some places cotton twine is employed, and it has 

 usuallv 12 threads and is laid slack. They are hung in tlie ordinary 

 manner — to a rope with cork floats to su|)port the up[)er portion of the 

 gear, and to a line with lead sinkei-s attached, which keeps the net 

 vertical in the water and all its me^sluvs properly distended. The 

 nets are tanned, usually several times each season. 



Drift nets vary greatly in l-ength and depth, depending upon the 

 width of the fishing channels, the depth of water, etc. On the Sac- 

 ramento River they average about 800 fathoms in length, are 45 

 meshes deep, and have a stretch mesh of from 7i to 9\ inches. On 

 the coastal rivers of Oregon these nets average about 125 fathoms in 

 length, and are about 36 meshes in depth, the mesli varying with 

 the species of salmon sought. On the Columbia River the nets aver- 

 age about 250 fathoms in length and have a stretch mesh for 

 fhinooks of 9 to 9\ inches. On the Willamette River, the principal 

 tributary of the Columbia, they average about 75 fathoms in length, 

 with meshes of 8 and 91 inciies. On AVillapa Harbor drift gill nets 

 run from 100 to 250 fathoms in length, are 30 meshes deep, with 

 stretch meshes of 7 and 8^ inches. On Grays Harbor they average 

 100 fathoms in length, the chinook nets run from 24 to 45 meshes m 

 d('[)th, with a stretch mesh of 9 inches, while the silver or coho nets 

 nro. '45 meshes in depth, with a stretch mesh of 7 inches. In nortiiern 

 P.ritish Columbia the nc^ts avernj'e 150 fathoms in length with a 

 Btretcli mesh of 5J inches. In the Puget Sound region the nets 



