PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 687 



River, about 135 miles long, and in the region of Kamchatka River. 

 All five species of salmon and Dolly Varden trout are taken here and 

 most of the canneries are located here and in the West Kamchatka 

 section. 



Southwestern district. — This district covers the waters from the 

 southern boundary of the Amur River estuary (the line between 

 Capes Lazarev and Pogibi) down to the Chosen frontier, including 

 Vanina Bay, Imperial Harbor, Peter the Great Bay, and other bays. 

 The total length of the shore line is about 1,350 miles. The northern 

 part, from Lazarev-Pogibi line to Cape Povorotni, with the excep- 

 tion of various bays, includes the conventional waters, while the 

 southern part, composed of Peter the Great Bay and Posiet Bay, 

 are excluded from the conventional waters. In the first-named 

 section chum and humpback salmon are caught to some extent. 

 In the southern section chum and humpback salmon are taken and 

 marketed fresh. 



Amur River. — The Amur River is subdivided into two districts— 

 the Marinsk, or the Lower Amur, district and the Khabarovsk dis- 

 trict. The first named includes the area from the village Troitskoe 

 to the village Sophiskoe, or a tract about 278 miles long. The 

 Khabarovsk district includes the river line from the northern bound- 

 ary of the Maryinsk district up the river to Khabarovsk, about 127 

 mUes. Chum salmon form the bulk of the catch in this district. 



APPARATUS EMPLOYED 



In the river districts somewhat primitive fishing apparatus is 

 employed. Spears, dip nets, and the other simple forms which 

 seem to be common to all savage tribes depending upon the water 

 for the greater part of their subsistence, are all in use by the natives 

 living along the upper reaches. 



Weirs of a primitive type known as "zaezdka," are also used. 

 These have a lead consisting of wUlow poles and branches built from 

 the river bank or a sand bank out into the stream. At the outer 

 end is attached a net compartment with a lead, into which the fish, 

 which have been following the lead in the search for an opening, 

 pass. Two men in a boat are anchored close by, and as soon as 30 

 or 40 salmon have passed into the compartment, it is hauled up and 

 the fish emptied into the boat, after which the net is reset. 



Haul seines of varying lengths and depths are used in connection 

 with the more important river fishing stations. 



Along the coast the Japanese use a floating trap net somewhat 

 similar to the type used in Alaska, also haul seines and a few gill nets. 



ABUNDANCE OF SALMON 



It is exceedingly difficult to secure even approximate statistics 

 of the Siberian catch of salmon, owing to the wide extent of coast, the 

 totally inadequate means of transportation preventing close super- 

 vision, the presence of so many foreigners who go directly home with 

 their catches at the end of the season, and the crude system of control 

 in operation by the authorities. 



