1070 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [8] 



took 140,000 eggs, the parent salmon appearing to be very thick in the 

 river. The next day we took 225,000, and by September 2 we had ex- 

 ceeded half a million a day. The next day we took more yet, and from 

 this time till we stopped fishing we could have taken a million a day 

 if necessary. Eipe salmon never were so abundant before in the fish- 

 ing season. We caught frequently at one haul of the seine more than 

 we used to catch, a few years ago, in twenty-four hours. The salmon 

 were very large, too, the average weight of the spawned fish being sev- 

 eral pounds more than last 3'ear, and the average number of eggs to the 

 fish being 4,205 against about 3,000 in 1880 and a still smaller number 

 in 1879. In consequence of the abundance of spawning fish, combined 

 with their large size and average of eggs, the fishing season was made 

 comparatively easy this year. 



When salmon are scarce we have been in the habit of drawing the 

 seine continuously night and day through the twenty-four hours. When 

 they are plentiful the regular time for drawing the seine is from 4 a. m. 

 to 10 a. m., and from 5 p. m. to 10 p. m. This year, on account of the 

 extraordinary abundance of the fish, we frequently had to make but two 

 or three hauls a day, and even at this rate we took all the eggs needed 

 (7,500,000) before the spawning season was half over — a piece of good 

 luck that never came within our experience before. 



I may add here that this vast increase in the number of salmon in the 

 river is the direct result of the artificial hatching of young salmon at 

 this place. For several years past the United States Fish Commission 

 has presented to the State of California 2,000,000 salmon eggs or more 

 each year. These eggs the State fish commission has hatched each year 

 at its own expense and has ijlaced the young salmon in tributaries of the 

 Sacramento. This artificial stocking of the river has resulted in a won- 

 derful and wholly unprecedented increase of salmon in this river. So 

 great has been the increas ethat the annual catch of salmon in the Sacra- 

 mento Eiver is worth nearly half a million dollars more than it was seven 

 years ago, before the hatching operations were resorted to. This one 

 result of the work done by the United States Fish Commission on the 

 McCloud Eiver would be ample compensation for all the outlay which 

 has been made there, supposing that it were attended with no other 

 results. 



There was not much else done during the fishing season except ta 

 catch parent salmon and to collect eggs, as it takes nearly all hands to 

 draw the seine and to take care of the eggs when taken. However, 

 some work was done in adding conveniences to the hatching house and 

 in preparing for shipping the eggs. 



The last eggs for the regular season's supply were taken on the 8th 

 of September, making a total of 7,500,000. The salmon in the river on 

 the day we left off fishing seemed thicker than ever. If they had beea 

 needed I think we could have taken 20,000,000 eggs thts season. 



The time between the end of the season's spawning and the begin- 



