REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 101 



up which they ascend till their progress is stopped by falls or other obstructions 

 which they can not surmount. These waters furnish the feeding-grounds of the 

 young salmon during their early life, which is spent in the fresh waters. Their 

 migration sea ward does not begin until they are at least a year <»hl and have attained 

 a length of from 8 to 10 inches. These streams are the nurseries of the great 

 salmon fisheries of the Lower Columbia. From each goes out every year a colony 

 more or less numerous, to swell the aggregate of young salmon necessary to repair 

 the waste by natural casualty and by capture. The area of natural distribution 

 has not as yet been very materially abridged. Certain streams, such as the Bruneau 

 and the Boise, have been obstructed by dams near their mouths, but the vast extent 

 of waters still accessible to salmon and affording suitable breeding and feeding 

 grounds indicates that we must look to other causes to explain any ascertained 

 deterioration in the salmon fisheries of the Columbia. 



The investigations made by Professor Evermann and the parties under his 

 direction establish conclusively the fact that there has been a very great reduction 

 in the number of salmon frequenting the headwaters of the Columbia River and its 

 tributaries. This decrease is more notable in the main river. There is no 



reason to doubt — indeed, the fact is beyond question — that the number of salmon now 

 reaching the headwaters of streams in the Columbia River Basin is insignificant in 

 comparison with the number which some years ago annually visited and spawned 

 in these waters. It is further apparent that this decrease is not to be attributed 

 either to the contraction of the area accessible to them or to changed conditions in 

 the waters which would deter the salmon from entering them. We must look to the 

 great commercial fisheries prosecuted in the lower river for an explanation of this 

 decrease, which portends inevitable disaster to these fisheries if the conditions which 

 have brought it about are permitted to continue. 



The principal recommendations of the Commissioner are as follows: 



The initial step in attempting the restoration of the salmon fishery is to restrict 

 and regulate the net fishing. The restriction that may be put in force Avith the 

 least hardship to the fishermen is the shortening of the season of net fishing. The 

 use of pounds, gill nets, traps, and seines in the lower river, from the Cascades to 

 the mouth, should be limited strictly to the months of May, June, and July. The 

 wheels should not be permitted to take salmon prior to the middle of May, so as to 

 permit the salmon which have entered the river iu April the opportunity to pass up 

 to the headwaters. A further close season for wheels should be established from 

 the 1st of August to the 10th of September, so as to provide for the uninterrupted 

 spawning of the August run of salmon. There does not at present appear sufficient 

 reason to prohibit the wheel fishing during the balance of September and during 

 the month of October. Protection for the salmon which have thus been enabled to 

 reach their spawning-grounds should be afforded by a close season during the 

 months of September and October, covering the streams in Washington, Oregon, 

 and Idaho, to which the salmon resort for breeding. 



Should the policy above outlined be adopted by these States and the requisite 

 measures to carry it into effect be enacted and enforced, it will be possible for the 

 United States Fish Commission and the State commissions to greatly enlarge their 

 fish-cultural operations and to prosecute them under much more satisfactory and 

 economical conditions than at present. Until the States interested adopt measures 

 to restrain net fishing, so as to permit a portion at least of the salmon entering the 

 river to pass up to their spawning-grounds, it is not deemed Aviso or expedient to 

 attempt to increase or extend the work of artificial propagation of the salmon. 



The report of Gilbert and Evermann discusses the conditions found at 

 each of the localities visited, the physical and natural-history features, 

 the impediments to the movements of salmon, of which the principal 

 ones are illustrated, and the advantages for fish-cultural operations 

 presented by the waters in different parts of the basin. While good 



