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'5.— ESTABLISHMENT OF STATIONS FOR THE PROPAGATION OF 
7 SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
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By J. J. Brice, Commander, United States Navy. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., November 15, 1892. 
Srr: I have the honor to submit herewith a report of investigations 
‘and operations on the Pacific Coast in reference to the establishment 
of stations for the propagation of salmon. 
~ The salmon, which formerly inhabited the Pacific Coast waters in 
countless millions, extending from Alaska to Monterey, are becoming 
each year more reduced in numbers in the yearly run, and the question 
resolves itself into one of almost final extinction or prompt and active 
‘measures for their protection and propagation. The importance of ° 
speedily furnishing a supply equal to the demand by artificial means is 
‘emphasized in the value of the fish industry on that coast, amounting 
to something like $7,000,000 yearly. 
The seal fisheries are a national question and the most prominent 
subject before the people, verging on war, yet their actual commercial 
‘value is not so great as the fish industry on the Pacific, which is grad- 
ually slipping away from us through depletion by indifference and 
‘improvident destruction. The ruin has continued without interruption 
‘until some of the streams, formerly alive with fish, are now nearly 
‘exhausted and becoming as destitute of salmon as the Hudson and the 
‘other eastern rivers which were, in early times, abundantly stocked 
“with many species of Salmonide. This destruction took place before 
artificial propagation was practiced, an excuse for that day and time; 
‘but it also serves as a warning in the present, with our knowledge of 
_artificial means, to protect and guard the Pacitic Coast streams from 
‘the same misfortune. 
To formulate a plan to restore the salmon in their original numbers 
‘to the various streams on that coast and offset the yearly catch by arti- 
ficial propagation has been my duty. : 
The urgent necessity for speedy action is manifest in the fact that 
‘there are many obstacles in the way of the rehabilitation of a river 
‘once depleted of its fish, aside from the great increase in the labor and 
(the expense of transporting young fry from remote localities. It was 
therefore recommended to the United States Fish Commission to estab- 
\lish hatcheries on military or otlier Government reservations, and 
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