B. C. SEA-LION lyVESTIGATION 



13 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a 



S. INJURY TO THE FISHING INDUSTRY. 



With regard to the injury done to the fisheries of the province, only the salmon, 

 halibut, and herring industries need be considered. Taking first the salmon fishery, 

 the complaints of injury were almost wholly confined to the Rivers Inlet region. Here 

 the sockeye season is at its height just after the pupping season, during which period it 

 has been stated by many authorities, no food is taken by the adults. When the pups 

 are two or three weeks old, according to the Indians, they are able to swim at the 

 surface of the water and are then taken by the adults into the neighbouring waters 



S/'AS'- 



AC - 



MAP 



or THE 



OdfvOtf' \^>Va\ 



JRIVEKS UNLET 

 IRECHdDM 



/^L 



while the latter satisfy their appetites, now especially voracious after the long fast. 

 It is quite probable that the amount of the stomach content at that time (Mr. Inrig 

 reported having seen thirty-six sockeye salmon in one lion's stomach) cannot be taken 

 as typical for the whole year. 



The sea-lion is such a powerful swimmer that it can readily overtake a salmon, 

 M-hich it catches and shakes until the piece comes out and the bite is swallowed. If 

 the fish are plentiful, the bitten fish is not touched further but another is attacked in 

 a similar manner. If the fish are scarce the part of the fish left after the first bite 



