204 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



A number of methods have been employed for taking the fish as 

 they are grouped below the rack and seekhig for an opening, but the 

 most practicable has been found to be by moans of drag or haul 

 seines sM'ept across the area just b(^low the rack. When the pocket 

 or bunt is brought close to shore the workmen pick out the ripe fish 

 and turn the others back to remain until they reach this stage. The 

 ripe fish are placed in pens or live boxes made for this purpose, the 

 males and females being kept separate. These live boxes are usually 

 on the under side of a floating platform, and are accessible through 

 hinged covers set in the plank flooring. Projecting beyond this 

 platform is usually another, upon which the actual work of stripping 

 the fish and caring for the pans is performed. 



At a few places where the fish are caught before they have reached 

 the ripe stage, notably Karluk, the fish are placed in a pound or 

 corral and held until they become ripe. This method is resorted 

 to only in case of necessity. 



The surest sign of ripeness in a female is the separation of the eggs 

 in the ovaries, but the experienced spa\\ai taker can, from the general 

 appearance of the fish, usually tell whether she is ripe or not, according 

 to JBower: ° 



An interesting experiment was conducted at the Afognak station last season [1910] 

 to determine the degree of ripeness producing the best quality of eggs. The loss on 

 the lot taken from females which were dead ripe — eggs flowing very freely — was less 

 than 1 per cent, while with another lot, where the females were ordinarily ripe upon 

 testing in the usual manner, the loss was about 5 per cent. This shows the need of 

 caution in having fish fully ripe before stripping, if the highest degree of efficiency is 

 to be expected. 



TAKING THE EGGS. 



As the eggs of the females confined in pens are likely to be injured 

 within the fish, stripping is usually done every day. 



When ready for spawn taking, one man lifts a female from the live 

 box by means of a small dip net, while another man lifts out a male 

 in the same manner. They are held suspended in the net until 

 their violent struggles are over, when it is easy to handle them. 



P'or many years, and even yet at many hatcheries, the method of 

 taking salmon spawn has been by pressing the eggs out by steady 

 downward pressure on the belly of the fish. The milt from the male 

 is obtained in the same way. 



Where the force is large and the fish rather small the quickest 

 way is for one to hold the fish in one hand and press out the eggs 

 or milt with the other. When the fish are large, or the working 

 force is small, a strait-jacket is used. This is a sort of trough made 

 about the average length of the salmon and hollowed out to fit its 

 general shape. A permanent cleat is set across the lower end, while 

 at the upper end is a strip with a buckle. The fish is slid into the 

 trough, the tail going below the cleat, where it is securely held, and 

 the head buckled in at the upper end with the strap. In this con- 

 dition the fish is unable to do any harm by its struggles and the eggs 

 can be pressed out at leisure. 



a FLsh Culture in Alaska, by Ward T. Bower. In Alaska Fisheries and Fur Industries in 1911, by 

 B. W. Evermann. U. S. Bureau ot Fisheries Document No. 766, p. 70. Washington, 1912. 



