1909.] 



The Life History of the Pacific Salmon 



41 



class, and the 1876 series has remained pretty uniformly in the poor class, 

 although in 1896 it suddenly reached the intermediate class, only to fall 

 again to its original estate. Finally, the 1879 series remained fairly 

 constantly in the intermediate class until 1899, with some ups and downs 

 however, but in 1903 it fell to the poor class. In 1904, accordingly, the 

 distribution of the runs in the three classes was greatly altered for the 

 worse, there being but one series in the good class, none in the intermediate 

 class and three in the poor class. I regret that I have not yet been able 

 to obtain the figures necessary for plotting the years since 1904, but from 



"^ 78 ao 82 84 S6 88 90 92 9? 96 98 00 00 "oK 



Fig. 3 — Puget Sound and Fraser River Sockeye Pack. Average per Line of 



Machinery. 



the cannery averages it is clear that the situation remains practically un- 

 changed, except that the 1876 series shows a second marked improvement 

 in 1908, extending well up towards the intermediate class. 



It is not possible to affirm absolutely that the cause of the general 

 decline in the fishery is due to over fishing, but it seems difficult to explain 

 it on any other hypothesis. Indeed, it has been generally admitted by 

 those interested in the fisheries with whom I have conversed that the future 

 of the industry is in danger from this cause, but, so far as I am aware, the 

 extent of the danger has not hitherto been presented as clearly and con- 

 cisely as it is shown in the diagram Fig. 3. The Government has recog- 



