22 DEPARTMENT OF THE yAVAL .SERVICE 



range. The under size of these fish is indicated in the number of small fish as well 

 as in the average length. One male was but 13 inches long and there were 63 fish (31.8 

 per cent of the whole number) less than 19.,5 inches long, while in the fish from the 

 other two localities there were but 8 under 19.5 inches (1.1 per cent of the whole num- 

 ber). The range in length in both the males and the females is almost the same in 

 the Fraser river and in the Pender island fish. If the fish examined were typical, it 

 is apparent that those humpbacks that keep near the Vancouver island shore at the 

 south east extremity, and pass up through Haro strait, or through the channels to 

 the west of this, are on the way to the Fraser river, even if some of the others that 

 pass in through the strait of Fuea, enter some of the Washington rivers and streams, 

 unless all of those coming in through the strait of Fuca are similar, and this is not 

 at all prc^bable. Those from Deepwater bay, on the other hand, are surely so different 

 that they constitute a different race. Although they were caught in the net at the 

 same time as the sockeye that evidently were on the way to the Fraser river, they 

 must have parted company later, probably going up some of the Vancouver island 

 streams. 



A direct comparison of the 1917 humpbacks with those of 1916 is not possible, 

 since there was no common point of collecting. The Rivers inlet humpbacks obtained 

 in 1916 were but slightly larger than the Fraser river or Pender island fish of 1917 

 but apparently the Rivers inlet fish of 1917 were much larger than those caught in 

 1916. Mr. F. Burke, of the Wallace Fisheries, was kind enough to give me some 

 canning figures from their canneries, going back for some years. Pinks have been 

 caught at the Strathcona cannery in Rivers inlet since •1912, and the number of fish 

 to the, case in each year was as follows: 1912, 18.6; 1913, 17.9; 1914, 16.9; 1915, 16.14; 

 1916, 16.5; 1917, 12.15. This indicates that the 1917 run consisted of much larger 

 fish than the 1916 run or any other in the last six years. It is possible that in the 

 earlier years the fish were not cut so closely as later but this could not account for. 

 the great change from 1916 to 1917. 



This superiority of size was not evident all along the coast as on the Skeena, for 

 instance, the 1917 pinks were much smaller than usual. Even if the number of fish 

 to the case is not a very definite guide to the actual size of the fish, it is some indica- 

 tion at least, and since, by measurement, the Rivers inlet fish of 1916 were larger than 

 the Fraser river fish of 1917, the Rivers inlet fish of 1917 must have been very much 

 larger. 



The humpbacks caught in Deepwater bay in 1917 are, in type, much like those 

 caught in the strait of Georgia between Cape Lazo and Comox in 1916, although they 

 are somewhat larger. In all probability the Comox .fish came through Discovery 

 passage and thus used the same route as those caught in Deepwater bay. They were 

 bound for the Courtenay river. The 1917 fish may have been en route to some of 

 the adjacent rivers, the Qyster river for instance, or they may have been Courten.iy 

 river fish, larger in 1917 than in 1916, or they may have been a mixture of 

 the two, which might account for the wide range of length already referred to. The 

 more rapid growth in the first year and the less rapid growth in the second year of 

 the 1917 fish would apparently indicate that theis' were not all Courtenay river fish. 



Dog Salmon. 



In 1916 dog salmon were obtained from Qualicum and from Nanaimo, but mixed 

 with those from the Nanaimo were a few from the neighbourhood of Crofton and Che- 

 mainus. In the 1917 collection it was possible to keep those from the three localities 

 better separated than in 1916 and hence although they were all obtained at the 

 Nanaimo cannery, they will be considered as Qualicum, Nanaimo and Chemainus 

 fish respectively. There were 1,024 altogether, 139 from Chemainus, 379 from 

 Nanaimo and 506 from Qualicum. The number and percentage of the different year 



