426 V. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



December, when the Indians generally catch them for their own use, 

 as they fear that if the whites got hold of the fish they might throw 

 away the hearts. Should a heart be eaten at this time by a dog or 

 chicken, the Indians believe the run would not come. In January, 

 when the fish begin to be abundant, all danger of this seems to have 

 passed, for the Indians then usually have a considerable number for 

 sale, and these are generally shipped to distant markets in a fresh 

 condition by the buyers. As soon as the canneries open at Moclips 

 most of the fish are disposed of at that place. The run continues up 

 to July 1. May and June arc the best fishing months. 



There is a fall run of chinooks in this river, which usually arrives 

 in August and ends about October 15. 



The silver salmon appear about October 1 and the run is generally 

 over by November 15; the chum salmon appear about November 1, 

 and the run is usually over by the middle of the same month, while 

 the steelhead trout run between November 20 and May 1. None of 

 the latter are canned. 



Moclips, the terminus of the railroad, is about 10 miles from the 

 river, and the fish are all taken by team to this place. Twenty fish, 

 weighing approximately 100 pounds, are put in each box, and these 

 are piled onto the wagons until a load has been accumulated. The 

 team owners get 50 cents a box for hauling the loaded ones to Moclips 

 and 5 cents a box for bringing the empty ones back. 



In 1915 the records of the Indian agent show that the Indians 

 fishing on the north side of the river caught 219,654 Quinault salmon, 

 valued at $49,820, while those on the south side caught 135,353 of 

 these fish, valued at $30,528.60, or a grand total of 355,007 fish, 

 valued at $80,348.60. This does not take into account the results 

 of the fishing for the other species of salmon and steelhead trout, 

 wliich ciuite materially swell the total. 



Fishing is restricted to the Indians, who also make their own 

 fishery laws, with the advice and approval of the Office of Indian 

 Affairs, as the State laws have no force inside the bounds of the reser- 

 vation. Under the regulations now in force a clear channel of one- 

 third the width must be left in the middle of the stream, which is 

 from 250 to 300 yards in width. Each owner of a fishing location 

 has to fish it in person; provided, however, that widows, orphans, 

 minor children, old Indians, and those who are sick or have gainful 

 occupations other than fishing are allowed to lease their locations or 

 hire some one to fish them, and then only with the approval of the 

 officer in charge. 



During the Quinault season stake nets are used, while the rest of 

 the time, as a result of the freshets, drift gill nets are used in the 

 eddies. The stake nets are arranged in a rather peculiar manner. 

 A line of stakes is run out for about one-third the width at right 

 angles to the shore, and to these are attached a net by short ropes. 

 From each stake a section of net is run out and downstream, curving 

 inward like a hook at the end, the latter part being held in place by 

 three stakes. 



The stake nets are 40 to 60 meshes deep, with 5M-inch stretch mesh, 

 and arc set 85 yards apart. A set of these as described above forms 

 one fishing location. 



The chinook gill nets are usually H% to 9 inches stretch mesh and 

 24 meshes deep, while the gill nets for silvers, chums, and steelheads 

 are of 7-inch stretch mesh and 35 meshes deep. 



