5 -ESTABLISHMENT OF STATIONS FOR THE PROPAGATION OF 

 SALMON ON- THE PACIFIC COAST. 



By J. J. Brice, Commander, United States Navy. 



Washington, D. C, Novemher 15, 1892. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith a report of iuve.stii;ations 

 and operations on the Pacific Coast in reference to the establishment 

 of stations for the propagation of salmon. 



The salmon, which formerly inhabited the Pacihc Coast waters in 

 countless millions, extending from Alaska to Monterey, are becoming 

 each year more reduced in numbers in the yearly run, and the question 

 resolves itself into one of almost final extinction or proiJii)t and active 

 measures for their i)rotection and i3roj)agation. The importance of 

 speedily furnishing a supply equal to the demand by artificial means is 

 emphasized in the value of the fish industry on that coast, amounting 

 to something like $7,000,000 yearly. 



The seal fisheries are a national question and the most prominent 

 subject before the people, verging on war, yet their actual commercial 

 value is not so great as the fish industry on the Pacific, which is grad- 

 ually slipping away from us through depletion by indifference and 

 improvident destruction. The ruin has continued without interruption 

 until some of the streams, formerly alive with fish, are now nearly 

 exhausted and becoming as destitute of salmon as the Hudson and the 

 other eastern rivers which were, in early times, abundantly stocked 

 with many species of Salmonidce. This destruction took place before 

 artificial propagation was practiced, an excuse for that day and time; 

 but it also serves as a warning in the present, with our knowledge of 

 artificial means, to protect and guard the Pacific Coast streams from 

 the same misfortune. 



To formulate a plan to restore the salmon in their original numbers 

 to the various streams on that coast and ofi^set the yearly catch by arti- 

 ficial propagation has been my duty. 



The urgent necessity for speedy action is manifest in the fact that 

 there are many obstacles in the way of the rehabilitation of a river 

 once depleted of its fish, aside from the great increase in the labor and 

 the expense of transporting young fry from remote localities. It was 

 therefore recommended to tlie United States Pish Commission to estab- 

 lish hatcheries on military or other Government reservations, and 



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