922 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



thousand an hour, an idea can be formed of the great number of fish col- 

 lected there. 



From these evidences of the abuudance ot salmon we naturally ex- 

 pected that when we came to haul the seine it would be pretty good 

 fishing. We were not disappointed, and the first haul of the seine 

 brought in, as nearly as could be estimated, 1,500, which, at an average 

 weight of 20 pounds each, would make 30,000 pounds. The seine, of 

 course, could not be hauled ashore, so after taking out a hundred or so 

 to try them, the seine was reversed and the fish released. 



As a natural consequence oi the abundance of salmon the yield of 

 salmon-eggs was unprecedented. 



Last year, with a total of 6,000,000 for the season, we beat the world 

 by two or three millions, but this year we took 50 per cent, more than 

 last year. This great success, however, was not without its disad- 

 vantages, for the increased work of spawning came very hard on the 

 men. To hold and spawn a 20 or 30 pound salmon is no slight task, 

 and to spawn six tons of them a day is something that no one who has 

 not tried it knows the severity of. The physical exertion required to 

 hold the struggling and powerful fish, and to press out the eggs or milt, 

 is very considerable. But this is not all. The men are wet from head 

 to foot all day, and constantly exposed to scratches from the bony rays 

 and cuts from the poisonous teeth of the male salmon. So serious a 

 disadvantage is this latter circumstance that after two days' spawning 

 the hands of the operators, and often their feet and other parts of their 

 bodies, become very sore and painful. The stooping position in taking 

 the eggs is very trying to the back. And the constant soaking of the 

 limbs with cold water brings on rheumatism and a sense of great lassitude 

 at night, all of which combine to make the taking of the spawn on a 

 large scale an extremely severe and trying labor. 



The handling of so many eggs also involves the employment of a 

 great deal of help, and in this remote place it is difficult to obtain com- 

 petent white workmen. To make matters worse, just at this time, the 

 picking over of eggs comes on, the preparation of the immense amount 

 of moss for packing the eggs, and the making of the packing-boxes, in 

 consequence of which we were very short-handed during the month of 

 September, though a large number of hands were employed. 



In spite of all disadvantages, nearly 9,000,000 eggs were taken, the 

 daily record being as follows : 



Daily record of salmon-eggs taken at the McCloud fishery, California, 1875. 



Date. 



Aug. 31 



Sept. 2 



3 



4 



6 



7 

 8 



Number of 

 eggs- 



660, 000 

 599, 500 

 986,150 i 



672, 650 

 334, 400 

 364, 6.50 



Date. 



Numbei' of 

 eggs. 



Sept. 



397, 650 

 352, 000 

 120, 4,50 

 8, 250 

 146, 300 

 297. 450 

 92, 4C0 



Number of 

 e2g.s. 



Sept. 23 

 24 I 

 25 

 26 . 



Total 



01,600 



" '75,960 



55, 666 



8, 029, 300 



