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THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Humpback 



When the humpback salmon is in good condition the flesh is very 

 acceptable. It has sufficient colour to go by the commercial name of 

 pink salmon. Even at its best, however, the flesh is less firm that 

 that of any of the other species, and hence it will spoil in shorter time. 

 As spawning time approaches deterioration takes place rapidly so 

 that even before the mouths of the rivers are approached, the quality in 

 many cases has become much poorer and but little later it is no longer 

 fit for human consumption. Circumstances were favourable in 1916 

 for making a comparison between fish caught early in the season and 

 later. About the middle of July a large number of humpbacks were 

 being caught in Rivers inlet, and several of them that were brought 

 into Wadham's were examined and the scales obtained. In the latter 

 half of August, several catches were brought into the Nanaimo can- 

 nery from the vicinity of Cape Lazo and from that to Comox, in the 

 strait of Georgia. These later fish at their best, could not have been 

 anything like as large fish as those caught in Rivers inlet, as will be 

 shown later by giving measurements, but apart from that the con- 

 dition of the flesh was very much poorer. When cooked in the can 

 there was no colour, and in every way it was a poorer canned product 

 than the Rivers inlet material that had the usual pink colour. 



