FISHERIES OF SACRAMENTO AND COLUMBIA RIVERS. 811 



amoug theQi, such as to cause their sickness or death in greater or less 

 numbers? 



Answer. No disease has ever been known to attack the salmon in the 

 main river, but countless numbers of salmon die, at the spawning-season, 

 in the tributaries which form the headwaters of the river. 



Question. When have these epidemics taken place, and to what causes 

 have they been assigned? 



Answer. See answer to previous question. 



12. — Parasites. 



Question. Are crabs, worms, lampreys, or other living animals, found 

 attached to the outside or on the gills of these fish ? 



Answer. The sea-louse is found under the fins of this salmon when it 

 comes from the sea. Other parasites are found about the fins and on 

 the gills at the spawning-season. 



13. — Capture. 



Question. How is this fish caught! If with a hook, what are the 

 different kinds of bait used, and which are preferred? 



Answer. This fish is usually caught with drift-nets in the main river. 

 In the smaller tributaries, where the fish come up to spawn, they are 

 killed with spears, clubs, and almost anything that can be used to deal 

 a heavy blow with. At the Dalles of the Columbia they are caught 

 in scoop-nets and weirs, and are killed by the Indians with spears, 

 and, I believe, both here and in the tributaries they are drawn ashore 

 with large hooks attached to long handles, which can be used with 

 great effect where the salmon are very thick and the water is shallow. 

 They are also caught in salt water with hook and line baited with live 

 minnows. At the headwaters, where they are also taken with hook 

 and line, the universal bait is salmon-roe, though it is possible to take 

 them with the artificial fly. 



Question. If in nets, in what kind ? 



Answer. The large nets of the main Columbia are drift-nets with 

 meshes which allow the head to pass in as far as the gills, by which the 

 salmon are caught. These nets are 1,200 feet long and 20 feet deep, 

 and are drifted three or four miles. At Chinook a seine of 200 fathoms 

 with a 4-inch mesh is hauled in June. They sweep out with the tide 

 and catch salmon and trout by the bushel. There are three seiuing- 

 grounds on the river. The seines are used in July. The meshes of the 

 seines are 2 inches from knot to knot. 



Question. At what season and for what period is it taken in nets, and 

 when with the line ? 



Answer. The Salmo quinnat is taken in drift-nets from March or April 

 till about the 10th of August. It is taken with hook and line whenever 

 it is found in salt water or at the headwaters of the river. 



Question. What would be the average daily catch of one person with 

 the hook, and what the total for the season ? 



