38 REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. 



000 in 1918, with indications of a still greater improvement dm-ing the 

 1919 season. At the Yes Bay hatchery 47,300,000 sockeye salmon 

 eggs were secured, as against 34,950,000 in the previous season. An 

 innovationin the holding and rearing of young salmon has beeninaugu- 

 rated at Yes Bay by the treatment of the hatchery creek. The water 

 passing through the creek is controlled by a 6-foot gauge, and a 1,000- 

 foot space at the upper end is divided into numerous feeding ponds by 

 placing semicircular rock dams across the stream, while a wire trap 

 has been placed at the lower end of the creek for the capture of Dolly 

 Varden and cutthroat trout, natural enemies of the young salmon in 

 this region. At the lower end of the lake an area of about 4 acres has 

 been screened off and about 6,000,000 young salmon have been placed 

 therein for rearing. 



At the various hatcheries in Washington the salmon of all species 

 liberated have aggregated 38,378,285, of which 21,103,025 were finger- 

 lings, while 1,791,000 additional fingerlings were on hand at the end of 

 the fiscal year. At Birdsview, the principal station in the vicinity of 

 Puget Sound, the collections were less extensive than in the previous 

 year, but at Baker Lake the season's outcome was, on the whole, an 

 improvement over several previous years. In continuance of the 

 efi'orts to establish a run of humpback salmon in the off years, con- 

 signment of eggs have been sent from the Alaska stations, and the 

 resulting yoimg have been planted in various tributaries of Puget 

 Sound. 



In the Columbia River and throughout the Oregon fields the work 

 at all sahnon stations was seriously handicapped by long-continued 

 drought and by the activities of the commercial fishermen, which re- 

 sulted in the escapement of only a limited number of fish to the spawn- 

 ing grounds. At the Little White Salmon station 10,693,000 chinook- 

 salmon eggs were obtained, and from these 9,177,500 No. 2 J finger- 

 lings were produced. At the Big White Salmon station the egg collec- 

 tions were relatively large, aggregating 10,665,000, the young from 

 which were planted locally as No. 2h fingerlings. 



Salmon hatching in California, at Baird and subsidiary stations, 

 was less expensive than in previous years, owing to low stages of the 

 Sacramento River resulting from a drought. The success of the sal- 

 mon work in this field is imperiled by the irrigation dam at Reddkig. 

 No fish are able to pass over this dam excepting, possibly, a few of the 

 early run, which may get over before the slide boards are put in place. 

 No fishway is available, and people living in the vicinity are continu- 

 ally using spears and hooks in the capture of the spawning fish con- 

 gregated below the dam. The State authorities have promised to 

 install fish ladders, but even with that advantage the future opera- 

 tions are doomed if fishermen are allowed to continue their operations. 

 At the Mill Creek station 17,284,500 chinook-salmon eggs were col- 

 lected, of which 11,164,500 were shipped when eyed to the State 

 hatchery at Sisson, and 2,304,000 were transferred to Baird. The 

 remaining eggs produced 3,498,800 fingerlings of Nos. Ih and 2 sizes, 

 all of which were planted in the creek. At Battle Creek, formerly one 

 of the most productive salmon stations ou the Pacific coast, only 

 5,384,000 eggs were obtained. Of these, 638,000 were shipped to the 

 Sisson hatchery, and from the remainder 4,509,000 fry were hatched 

 and reared to the fingerling stage before liberation. No spawn-taking 

 operations were conducted at the Baird hatchery, and there was no 



