PEOPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1924 389 



the flood waters had receded sufficiently to permit of temporary- 

 repairs to the water supply, and the stock of eggs was again returned 

 to the hatchery. The collection of steelhead eggs, made between 

 April 21 and May 19, amounted to 98,000, or about one-third the 

 number obtained the previous year. 



QUINAULT (wash.) STATION 

 [Philo B. Hawley, Superintendent] 



The outstanding features of the work at this station were: (a) Con- 

 duct of the salmon census, (b) propagation of sockeye salmon, and 

 (c) improvement to ponds and otner station property. 



Since the run of sockeye salmon in Quinault Lake extends from 

 about April 1 to the end of the succeeding August, it is obvious that 

 the annual report of any fiscal year can not give a complete census 

 of the run of an entire season. The total of the daily counts to the 

 end of the fiscal year 1923 amounted to 123,022, but to this must be 

 added 51,580 fish, the total of the number passing through the weir 

 between July 1 and August 15, 1923, making a grand total of 174,602 

 fish entering the lake during the full season of 1923. In the spring 

 of 1924 the weir was installed well in advance of the run. The first 

 fish were observed in the trap on March 19, and between that date 

 and the end of the fiscal year the sum of the daily tallies aggre- 

 gated 109,298. 



According to reports received from the superintendent of the Indian 

 Reservation at Tahola, the Indians on the Quinault had taken for 

 commercial purposes or home consumption approximately 100,000 

 fish from the beginning of the run to June 15. In view of the criti- 

 cism of the salmon census by many of the Indians, who claimed that 

 the counting weir was responsible for the death of considerable num- 

 bers of the adult salmon entering the lake, a careful watch has been 

 maintained during the past tw^o years with special reference to this 

 feature. In this connection frequent trips were made by canoe to 

 points 10 miles or more below the weir in an effort to obtain all rele- 

 vant facts. The times for maldng such trips were gauged in accord- 

 ance with conditions on the river, periods of clear water being espe- 

 cially advantageous, in order that the river bottom might be observed 

 readily. The largest number of dead fish seen on any one trip was 

 21, and in practically every instance the cause of death was clearly 

 traceable to bites inflicted by seals, either before the fish left the sea 

 or while they were enmeshed in gill nets in the lower reaches of the 

 river. The number whose death could reasonably be attributed to 

 injuries at the counting weir was so small as to be inconsequential. 



The minor difficulties developing during the first season's work at 

 the counting weir were soon overcome, and in view of its successful 

 operation since that time it is perhaps not amiss to indulge in specu- 

 lation as to the advantages that ma}^ be expected to accrue from its 

 use as the controlling factor in regulating fishing in the Quinault 

 River. There is probably no other point where the opportunity 

 is so good for controlling and regulating the fisheries with the view 

 of effecting an equitable distribution of the products. Because of 

 their hold on certain favorable fishing locations on the river, either 

 through inheritance or purchase, comparatively few Indians are 

 receiving, under the present system, practically all the monetary returns 



