PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 477 



silver salmon and steelhcad 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 snuiU 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, but 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 extent 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 fisheries of the Pacific coast. There are two kinds, 

 drift and set, these names clearly expressing the difference between 

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

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

 usually 12 threads and is laid slack. They are hung in the ordinary 

 manner — to a rope with cork floats to support the upper portion of the 

 gear, and to a line with lead sinkers attached, which keeps the net 

 vertical in the water and all its meshes properly distended. The 

 nets are tanned, usually several times each season. 



Drift nets vary greatly in length and depth, depending upon the 

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

 ramento River they average about 300 fathoms in length, are 45 

 meshes deep, and have a stretch mesh of from 7}i to 9/2 inches. On 

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

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

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

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

 of 9 to 9K inches. On the Willamette River, the principal tributary 

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

 meshes of 8 and 9/2 inches. On Wlllapa Harbor drift gill nets run 

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

 meshes of 7 and 8)2 inches. On Grays Harbor they average 100 

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

 depth, with a stretch mesh of 9 inches, while the silver or coho nets 

 are 35 meshes in depth, with a stretch mesh of 7 inches. In northern 

 British Columbia the nets average 150 fathoms in length with a 

 stretch mesh of 5% inches. In the Puget Sound region the nets 

 average 300 fathoms in length, with meshes suitable for the particular 

 species sought. In Alaskan waters the nets vary greatly in length 

 and depth, depending upon the places where fished. 



Drift gill netting is prosecuted chiefly in the estuaries of the rivers 

 in and near the channels. If the water is clear, the nets are set 

 only at night, but should the water be muddy or discolored with 

 glacial silt, fishing can be carried on either night or day. Night fish- 



