954 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
not only ate them fresh but also dried large quantities for winter use 
for themselves and their dogs. 
Owing to the inaccessibility of the Siberian coast, due mainly to 
the lack of transportation facilities for many years and the decided 
objection of the eitsaian Government to travelers roaming over the 
country, partly because of the presence of political and criminal 
convicts ce partly because of a fear that they might learn too 
much of its resources, there has been but little written, especially 
with regard to its fishery resources, about this remote section of the 
Russian Empire, and what little has been published is usually filled 
with inaccuracies, due, doubtless, in many instances to the fact that 
the writer generally had to get most of his information at second and 
third hand and was also unfamiliar with fishery subjects. 
Most of the data given below were obtained directly from persons 
living in Siberia or Japan, most of whom are engaged in the fishing 
industry of Siberia, or from Americans who have on various occa- 
sions visited the country in order to view its fishing possibilities at 
first hand. 
SPECIES OF SALMON. 
All five species of salmon are to be found along the Siberian coast, 
and the schools appear to run about the same as they do on the 
American side. Alt hough we have very little authentic data relating 
to their movements, these are doubtless similar to the runs on the 
Alaska coast, where climatic and other conditions are very similar. 
Nearly all streams from the Arctic Ocean to north China seem to have 
runs of one or more species. The steelhead does not appear to be an 
inhabitant of the Asian coast. 
The fishing carried on by the Russians has usually been along the 
rivers of the mainland, principally in the Amur and on Sakhalin 
Island. 
From very early times Japanese fishermen have frequented_the 
Siberian coast and Sakhalin alba (the southern portion of which 
they at one time owned, exchanging it to Russia for the Kurile 
Islandsin 1875 and again acquiring itin 1905, as a result of the Russian- 
Japanese war), being drawn here mainly by the rich stores of salmon 
which could be secured easily and quickly, and were so necessary 
to eke out the vast quantity needed to supply such a fish-eating 
nation as Japan. 
FISHING DISTRICTS. 
The Priamur fishing district is subdivided into several districts as 
follows: 
Nikolaevsk district.—This district comprises the whole lower part 
of the Amur River from the village Zimmermanovka down to the 
mouth of the river, about 300 miles; the River Amgun, 200 miles; 
the Amur estuary, about 150 miles on the mainland and about 130 
miles on the coast of Sakhalin Island, and about 865 miles of the coast 
line on the southwestern shore of the Okhotsk Sea. In 1913 there 
were 139 fishing stations operated in this district, and this number 
has been materially increased since. Humpbacks and chums were 
the principal species of salmon taken. 
Sakhalin district—The Sakhalin district includes the entire coast 
line of Sakhalin island with the exception of that facing the Amur 
estuary, which belongs to the Nikolaevsk district. It is the smallest 
