42 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [Vol. IX. 



nized the danger and has sought to avert it by imposing certain restrictions 

 on the fishing and by engaging extensively in hatching preparations, in 

 which latter they have been aided by the British Columbia Legislature, 

 which maintains a hatchery at Seton Lake, and by the British Columbia 

 Packers' Association, which supports a hatchery at Nimpkish, V.L These 

 hatcheries have capacity for the hatching of 100,000,000 eggs, but what 

 effect their operation has had on the runs there are no means of estimating. 

 It seems clear, however, that there are two sets of conditions to be con- 

 sidered. As has just been pointed out there are two classes of runs, a good 

 class now consisting of a single run every fourth year, and a poor class 

 which includes the runs of the three intervening years. Up to the present 

 it would appear that the good run has been quite able to take care of 

 itself under the present regulations, but these do not seem quite adequate 

 in the cases of the poor runs. The different conditions require different 

 treatment and more stringent regulations seem necessary for the poor runs 

 if these are to be prevented from becoming even poorer in the future. 



The matter is by no means a simple one, however, since it presents 

 international complications. A very large proportion of the fish returning 

 to the Fraser River to spawn travel along the southern shore of Puget 

 Sound in American waters and an extensive salmon fishing industry has 

 developed in these waters. It began about 1891 and for some years its 

 pack remained far below that of the Canadian canneries. It grew apace, 

 however, and in 1898 the American pack and Canadian pack were about 

 equal, but since then the advantage has, with the exception of two years, 

 1903 and 1905, been on the side of the American canneries. And that 

 advantage is increasing; for in 1907 the American pack amounted to 

 93.934 cases as against a Canadian pack of 59,815 cases, in 1908 the 

 American pack was 170,951 cases and the Canadian 74,574 and according 

 to the estimates for this year that I have received the American pack 

 probably amounts to over 900,000 cases, while the Canadian totals only 

 about 600,000. 



These figures may well arouse indignation when we consider that it 

 is fish that have been bred in our waters and by our hatcheries and that 

 are returning to our streams to spawn that our neighbours to the south 

 are catching at a rate which threatens the industry. And a further cause 

 for indignation may be found in the fact that the American authorities 

 have been much more lax in imposing restrictions on the fishery than has 

 our Government. Indeed, up to within recent years there were no limi- 

 tations whatever imposed upon American fishermen, and whatever was 

 done towards preservation of the industry was done by our Government 

 and the restrictions imposed were imposed upon our fishermen. How- 



