110 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Section 10. 



(n^ No purse soine shall be cast or placed in the water for fishing purposes within 

 twenty-four hundred feet of an\- trap net. 



(6) The use of purse seiiies for Ihe capture of so';keye salmon shall be confined to 

 the treaty waters south Vvard and westward of a straight line drawn from the lighthouse 

 on Trial Island, British ('olumbia, to the northwest point of Whidbey Island, State of 

 Washiiigton. 



Section 11. 



A salmon drift net shall not exceed nine hundred linear feet in length, and the 

 vertical breadth thereof shall not exceed sixty meshes, and the si'.e of the mesh shall 

 not be less than five and three-fourths inches, extension measure, when in use. 



Had such a treaty been adopted and rigidly enforced 10 or 12 

 years ago, it might have had a beneficial effect on the Fraser Rivcr- 

 Puget Sound sockeye run, but the destruction of the run has pro- 

 gressed to such an alarming extent during the past 7 years that only 

 a total cessation of all fishing for sockeyes in this section for a 

 term of years could have the slightest beneficial effect. The pro- 

 posed regulations provide that ''during the years 1920 to 1927, 

 both years inclusive, no one shall fish for, catch, or kill any salmon 

 from the 20th day of July to the 31st day of July in each year, both 

 days inclusive; and during this close time nonets or appliances 

 of any kind that will capture salmon may bo used in those treaty 

 waters * * *." This closed period runs concurrently on both 

 sides of the line, and while it would have but a very slight effect if 

 the salmon were able to reach the spawning grounds in this short 

 period, it certainly can have none if the Canadian gill netters arc 

 enabled to start fishing just about the time the salmon have reached 

 the mouth of the Fraser. 



The only hope of rehabilitating the sockeye rim — and some well- 

 informed observers have grave doubts whether anything will ever 

 accomplish this desirable result — is to close the waters of Puget 

 Sound through which the sockeyes pass and the Fraser River during 

 the months of July and August or such other period as may be neces- 

 sary to protect the sockeyes from the time they app.^ar ol^ the capes 

 un{il they have passed beyond the fishermen on the Fraser River to 

 all salmon fishing for a period of 8 or 12 years. As the sockeyes 

 are 4-year lish — i. e., are born and live in frc sh water for about a 

 year, then go to sea, and are not observed again until they return in 

 the fourth vear after birth (a small proportion live to 5 years, and a 

 vastly smaller proportion to 6 years), spa^vn on the breeding grounds 

 of the Fras(>r and then die — ^a closed period of loss than 4 years could 

 have no appreciable effect, as it would not be a complete cycle in 

 the animal's life^ while 8 or 12 yeare, representing two or three cycles 

 of their life, might possibly have a beneficial effect, although the 

 experiiMices of the past show clearly that it is much easier to destroy a 

 school of fish than it is to restore a much depleted one. 



DECREASE IN HUMPBACK SALMON CATCH. 



Another unfortunate condition has developed as a result of exces- 

 sive fishing in Puget Sound of recent years, and that is the heavy 

 decline in the catch of humpback salmon. These fish are caught in 

 the same app;iratus as used for sockeyes. 



For many years the huinp})acks came in countless numbers, and 

 the fishermen were able to sell but a small part of the catch. Despite 



