94 ~ PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 
DANGERS TO THE INDUSTRY. 
Man is undoubtedly the greatest present menace to the perpetua- 
tion of the great salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast. When the 
enormous number of fishermen engaged and the immense quantity 
of gear employed are considered, one sometimes wonders how any 
of the fish, in certain streams at least, escape. High water or low 
water, either of which will prevent certain forms of apparatus from 
fishing to any extent while such conditions prevail, storms which 
impede fishing, and the hundred and one small things which in 
the aggregate are of considerable importance, however, all aid in 
assisting the salmon in dodging the apparatus and reaching the 
spawning beds in safety, while, unless the stream is completely 
blocked by a tight barricade, an indeterminate number of salmon 
will escape all the pitfalls man and animals may set for them. 
One very essential fact in connection with the annual runs of 
spawning salmon should not be lost sight of, and that is all salmon 
die after spawning once, and if more are allowed to reach the 
spawning beds than are necessary for the perpetuation of the race 
the excess are an economic waste. An excessive number of spawn- 
ers on the beds is also harmful, in that the late comers stir up the 
gravel in which many of the eggs deposited by the early spawners 
have been sheltered, causing them to float up and become easy prey 
for the predaceous fishes and birds. 
In some sections an almost idolatrous faith in the efficacy of arti- 
ficial culture of fish for replenishing the ravages of man and animals 
is manifested, and nothing has done more harm than the prevalence 
of such an idea. 
While it is an exceedingly difficult thing to prove, the consensus of 
opinion is that artificial culture does considerable good, yet the very 
fact that this can not be conclusively proven ought to be a warning 
to all concerned not to put blind faith in it alone. 
When salmon are stripped by man, the eggs fertilized and retained 
in hatcheries until the young are born, and then planted as soon as 
the yolk sac has been absorbed, it is manifest that the only saving 
over the natural method is in reducing the loss in the egg stage. 
We know that many eggs, after being deposited naturally on the 
spawning beds, are devoured by other fishes, while sudden freshets 
and occasional droughts also claim their toll of eggs. It is highly 
probable, although we have no positive data on this point, that these 
losses far exceed those experienced in artificial salmon culture, and 
whatever this difference is it represents the extent to which salmon 
hatcheries should be credited as preservers of the industry, when the 
fry are planted immediately after the yolk sac has been absorbed. 
Many hatcheries, however, now hold the young fish until they reach 
the fingerling or yearling stage before planting them, thus greatly 
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