PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1935 409 



their habitats. A report on this part of the investigation is now 

 in the process of preparation. 



As a result of cooperative work between the United States Bureau 

 of Fisheries and tlie Washington State Fisheries Department, evi- 

 dence was collected and presented Avhich indicated the necessity for a 

 third fish ladder at the middle of the Rock Island Dam on the main 

 Columbia River. This ladder is now being constructed and will be 

 in use during the summer of 1936. 



PUGET SOUND SOCKF.YE SALMOX 



Since the publication in March 1935, of the preliminary report on 

 the salmon fisheries of the Puget Sound-Frasier River region by Dr. 

 George A. Rounsefell and George B. Kelez, entitled Abundance 

 and Seasonal Occurrence of the Salmon in the Puget Sound Region 

 and the Development of the Fishery,** the sockeye investigation has 

 been concerned hirgely with obtaining sufficient data to clarifj^ many 

 of the points only hinted at in the preliminary study. The collec- 

 tion of statistics on the catches of fish traps and seines in Puget 

 Sound was continued in cooperation with the coho investigation. 

 Special efforts were made to obtain sufficient purse seine data cover- 

 ing the fall months, and considerable success was achieved. 



The records of daily catches were obtained for over 76 percent of 

 the salmon traps operated during the past 20 years, and a consid- 

 erable percentage of all of the traps operated since 1895. These data 

 are being tabulated so as to show the seasonal occurrence of all species 

 of salmon in each of the main fishing areas. Furthermore, the total 

 annual catches made by each of the traps since 1915 have been ascer- 

 tained, thereby making available the quantities of salmon taken in 

 each area. 



The sockeye investigation has obtained records of individual daily 

 catches by gill nets on the Fraser River of all species of salmon 

 throughout each season from 1898 to 1935. Preliminary analysis of 

 these data has shown distinct differences in the efficiency of Japa- 

 nese, white, and Indian fishermen. Records have been obtained of 

 all the licenses from 1900 to 1935, and these are being studied to 

 discover the variations in numbers of each of these three classes of 

 fishermen. 



The Division of Fish Culture has cooperated with the sockeye in- 

 vestigation by planting 76,000 fingerling sockeyes from the Birdsview 

 hatchery in Cedar River, a tributary of Lake Washington ; and an- 

 other 76,000 in Issaquah Creek, a tributary of Lake Sammamish, 

 which empties into Lake Washington through the Sammamish River. 

 These two lakes appear to be the most suitable in the Puget Sound 

 region of the State of Washington for the establishment of sockeye 

 salmon. At present they both support runs of coho salmon. 



During the 1935 season biological data were collected from the 

 commercial catches of sockeye, pink, and chum salmon from various 

 areas within Puget Sound as well as from Swiftsure Bank. From 

 July 22 to November 20, scales and length measurements were taken 

 on 55 samples of sockeyes comprising 2,529 fish. Weights were taken 



8 Special Report, Washington, 1935 (tniiltigraphed). 



