DO SPAWNING SALMON DIE WITHOUT EETURNING TO SEA. 81 7 



B. 



[Notes on letter of Mr. Horace D. Dunn to Prof. Spencer F. Baird, dated San Fran- 

 cisco, September 2G, 1876. By Livingston Stone.] 



In the first part of liis letter Mr. Dunn says that on page 180, United 

 States Fish Commission Report, 1872 and 1873, Mr. Stone states that "all 

 the Sacramento salmon die after spawning," and critijcises this-statement 

 as follows : 



" No doubt that great numbers do, but a very large portion of the run 

 return to sea again, as before the close season between August 1, and 

 November 1, was established it Avas a common occurrence to find spent 

 salmon in market between the dates named." 



Now, Mr. Dunn, undoubtedly without designing to, has misquoted 

 what I said. By referring to pS^ge 180, of the report referred, to, it will 

 be seen that I did not say that all the Sacramento salmon die after 

 sjiawning, but limited my statement to the salnion of the McCloud 

 Eiver. Indeed, in reference to the Salmo quinnat dying in the California 

 rivers I took particular care in my report to say that my remarks ap- 

 plied only to the salmon of the McCloud and ui)per tributaries, because 

 these salmon I was familiar with, while I was not familiar with the habits 

 of the Sacramento salmon of other portions of the river. The exact 

 words of the statement on page 180, of the report are as follows: 



"Soon after this they (the salmon) become foul, diseased, and very 

 much emaciated, and in the McCloud River, at least, they die a short 

 time after spawning." 



This statement I am prepared to support by evidence collected since 

 that time, and by the testimony of many others who have had oppor- 

 tunities of observing the McCloud River salmon with particular refer- 

 ence to this i3ecunarity. 



The fact further mentioned by Mr. Dunn in confirmation of his state- 

 ment that spent salmon were frequently seen in San Francisco in the 

 fall is no evidence in regard to the McCloud River salmon, for no sal- 

 mon in any stage were ever sent from this river to the San Francisco 

 market, while it is a fact within my own knowledge that spent salmon 

 were formerly sent to market from the vicinity of Cloverdale and also 

 from Tehama. My own opinion on the subject, confirmed by five sea- 

 sons' observation on the McCloud River, is that the Sacramento salmon 

 which spawn near the sea are, many of them, able to return to the salt 

 water, but that the salmon which spawn as far away from the ocean 

 as the McCloud River and upper tributaries of the Sacramento are 

 too much exhausted after spawning to find their way back to the sea 

 alive. 



The remarks of Mr. Dunn, farther on in his letter, in regard to the 



quahty of the flesh of the Sacramento salmon, and also in regard to 



taking them with a hook and line, I entirely agree with and approve of. 



I do not, however, attach as much importance as Mr. Dunn does to the 



52 F 



