[3] IS SAWDUST INJURIOUS TO THE FISHERIES? 627 



tion the circumstance, that the refuse from the saw-mills in many places 

 interferes with the fisheries. We have instances (of which I shall have 

 occasion to speak further on) of fishing-places being so completely tilled 

 with heaps of sawdust as to make the hauling in of the nets very diffi- 

 cult and eveu impossible. The larger pieces of wood which are fre- 

 quently found among the refuse from saw-mills often interfere very 

 seriously with the fisheries by tearing the nets. 



Although the quantity of sawdust in some of our larger rivers has of 

 late years been somewhat diminished by the establishment of steam saw- 

 mills, which use most of their refuse as fuel, the evil is on the increase 

 in many other places, to such a degree in fact as to endanger the very 

 future of the salmon fisheries. The danger is greatest in the salmon 

 rivers in the districts of List and Mandal, the districts where,our most 

 productive salmon fisheries are carried on. Many fishery-owners in 

 these districts think the evil has assumed such dimensions that, as long 

 as nothing is done to keep the sawdust out of the rivers, they consider 

 it useless to take any steps for improving the salmon fisheries. At the 

 many meetings for promoting the fishing interests which I have attended 

 in these districts such discouraging opinions have again and again been 

 advanced with more or less earnestness. Although I believe that the 

 fears entertained by many persons in the above-mentioned districts are 

 somewhat exaggerated, I cannot conceal from myself the fact that the 

 evil is a very serious one, and that every year which passes without 

 auy preventive measures being taken increases the danger to the sal- 

 mon fisheries of these districts to such a degree that it may take them 

 a very long time to recover. 



With a view of showing the actual state of affairs in this regard in the 

 districts of List and Mandal, and the light in which it is viewed by peo- 

 ple in these districts, I shall give some extracts from recent reports. 



Mr. Baade, assistant superintendent of fisheries, whom I had com- 

 missioned during the summer of 1877 to visit the districts of List and 

 Mandal and examine the condition of the salmon fisheries, says, among 

 other things, in his report, under date of October 20: 



"The authorities of these districts have given some attention to the 

 question of the injurious influence of sawdust on the salmon. It seems 

 strange that any doubt should ever have been entertained as to its in- 

 jurious influence; and all doubts as to this question should have van- 

 ished, since most of the saw-mills have introduced circular saws, whose 

 number is constantly increasing. This kind of saw makes the dust much 

 finer, and it becomes all the more injurious to the fish, when — as is fre- 

 quently the case now — the mills are employed in cutting staves, for 

 which birch and coarser wood generally is used than for boards and 

 planks ; the sawdust which is thereby produced is more apt to sink to 

 the bottom instead of being carried away by the current. The injuri- 

 ous influences of this change have become very strikingly apparent in 

 these districts, for in all the salmon streams in this part of the country 



