SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 29 



provided with a movable trapdoor that can be opened during the 

 closed season and on Sundays, so that the fish can pass through and 

 run upstream. These weirs, after being built, are launched into the 

 river, placed in proper position near the shore, and then ballasted 

 so that they sink to the bottom. 



According to Collins," " pound nets were introduced on the Colum- 

 bia River in 1879. In May of that year Mr. O. P. Graham, formerly 

 of Green Bay, "Wis., built a pound net on the river similar to those 

 used on the Great Lakes. The success of this venture led to the 

 employment of more apparatus of this kind, and many fishermen 

 went West to participate in the fishery." 



According to the same authority 6 Mr. H. B. Kirby, who had pre- 

 viously fished on the Great Lakes, set a pound net in Puget Sound 

 about 1883, but it was a complete failure. On March 15, 1888, he 

 again set a pound net, which he had designed to meet the new con- 

 ditions, at Birch Bay Head, in the Gulf of Georgia. It proved a 

 complete success, and was the forerunner of the present large number 

 which are set annually in these waters. 



In Alaska the first trap was set in Cook Inlet about 1885. Brit- 

 ish Columbia refused to permit the use of pound nets in its waters 

 until 1904, when their use was allowed within certain limited regions. 



Some of these trap nets, especially on Puget Sound, have proved 

 extremely valuable. The years 1898 and 1899 covered practically 

 the high-water mark, as several desirable locations changed hands in 

 those years at prices ranging from $20,000 to $90,000 for single 

 pounds, the original expense of which did not exceed $5,000. But 

 few have brought such high prices since, however, owing to the 

 decline in the run of salmon. 



The location of sites for these nets is regulated by law in Oregon, 

 Washington, and British Columbia, but in Alaska the procedure is 

 not well defined and has proved rather confusing to strangers. 

 Some acquire the necessary shore line by mineral location or by the 

 use of scrip, while still others have merely a squatter's right. Within 

 the bounds of the forest reserve no land can be acquired except by 

 lease, which may be secured from the United States forestry agent, 

 Ketchikan. Alaska. 



INDIAN TRAPS. 



The natives, especially in Alaska, have various ingenious methods 

 of catching salmon. In the Bering Sea rivers they catch them by 

 means of wickerwork traps, made somewhat after the general style 

 of a fyke net. These are composed of a series of cylindrical and 

 conical baskets, fitting into each other, with a small opening in the 



a Report on the fisheries of the raeific Coast of the United States, by J. W. Collins, 

 Report of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1888, p. 210. 1891. 

 * Ibid., p. 257. 



