1909. The Life History of the Pacific Salmon. 43 



ever, an international commission, which sat in 1906, modified this un- 

 satisfactory condition to a certain extent and it is to be hoped that the 

 pending treaty will aid in bringing about a more satisfactory state of 

 affairs. It is to the interest of both Americans and Canadians that the 

 industry should be maintained, and the co-operation of both governments 

 is demanded and should be ungrudgingly given. But the conditions are 

 at present such that legislation of one year may be ineffective or unneces- 

 sary in the next and what is needed is a permanent International Com- 

 mission charged with the regulation of the international salmon fisheries. 

 It seems to me that in no other way will the desired results be secured. 



And what are these results? First and foremost undoubtedly the 

 averting of the threatened danger that the runs of the poor years may be 

 still further diminished, possibly to practical extinction. But that is by 

 no means all. Turn again to the diagram. Fig. 3, and note the conditions 

 shown by the 1878 series of runs. Equal to the 1877 run and in 1882 

 considerably surpassing that of 1881, in 18S6 it has dropped to the poor 

 class. Why this happened I do not know, but if it could happen to that 

 good run we may suppose that it may also happen any year to the present 

 big run. It is this run which saves the situation at the present time and 

 yet in any year it may fail us and our famous Fraser River fisheries be 

 reduced to a series of poor runs. But note again how the 1878 series in 

 1890 and 1894 endeavoured to regain its former magnitude only to fail 

 ignominiously, and the failure may justly be attributed to over fishing. 

 If efficient protection had been afforded in those years it seems not improb- 

 able that we would now have two big runs in every four year cycle. Both 

 the 1876 and 1879 series show temporary improvements, and the question 

 suggests itself whether these improvements might not be made permanent 

 by the adoption of proper precautions. And here we have a glimpse of 

 the path that must be followed to gain these results. These temporary 

 improvements are clearly independent of the fishing. Regulations of the 

 fishing would be a help, but it is not the onlv factor at work. We need a 

 more thorough study of the entire life history of the Sockeye than has 

 yet been made and with this a detailed investigation of the conditions 

 under which the fish live at different periods of their existence. Until 

 we know these we cannot understand the fluctuations that occur in the 

 runs, nor can we take intelligent steps toward their permanent improve- 

 ment. We should be able, and with sufficient knowledge we would be 

 able to predict accurately the extent of the run for any year of a four year 

 cycle, and what is more important, we would be able to take advantage 

 of favourable conditions or even to modify or control unfavourable ones 

 and so instead of impotently watching the gradual diminution of this 



