512 TJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



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

 years ago,^° it might have had a beneficial efiect on the Fraser River- 

 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 socke^'es in this section for a term 

 of years could have the slightest beneficial eftect. The proposed 

 regulations provide that "during the 3^ears 1920 to 1927, both 3^ears 

 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 no nets or appliances of any kind that will 

 capture salmon may be used in these treaty waters * * *." This 

 closed period runs concurrently on both sides of the line, and w^hile it 

 woidd have but a ver}^ 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 are enabled to start fishing just about the 

 time the salmon have reached the mouth of the Fraser. 



The only hope of rehabihtating the sockeye run — 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 socke3^es from the time they appear off the capes 

 until 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 fish— i. e., are born and live in fresh water for about a year, 

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

 fourth year after birth (a small proportion live to 5 years, and a vastly 

 smaller proportion to 6 years), spawn on the breeding grounds of the 

 Fraser and then die — a closed period of less than 4 years could have 

 no appreciable eft'ect, as it would not be a complete cycle in the 

 animal's hfe,. while 8 or 12 years, representing two or three cycles of 

 their life, might possibly have a beneficial effect, although the expe- 

 riences 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. 



NEW TREATY PROPOSED 



On April 18, 1929, a convention between the United States and 

 Great Britain, looking to the protection, preservation, and extension 

 of the sockeye-salmon fisheries in the Fraser River system, signed at 

 Washington on March 27, 1929, was transmitted by President Hoover 

 to the United States Senate for its action. The convention reads as 

 follows : 



PRESERVATION AND EXTENSION OF THE SOCKEYE SALMON FISHERIES IN THE 



FRASER RIVER SYSTEM 



The President of the United States of America and His Majesty the King of 

 Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond tlie Seas, Emperor of 

 India, recognizing that the protection, preservation and extension of the sockeye 

 sahnon fisheries in the Fraser River system are of common concern to the United 

 States of America and the Dominioji of Canada; that tlie supply of this fish in 

 recent years has been gravely depleted and tliat it is of the utmost importance 

 in the mutual interest of both countries that this source of wealth should be 

 restored and maintained, have resolved to conclude a convention and to that end 

 have named as their respective plenipotentiaries; 



The President of the United States of America: 



M This and the sueeee'iing paragraph were written in 1919 and the need for such action is even more 

 imperative to-day (1929). 



