Bahcock. — The Great Fraser River Fishery 243 



lion sockeyes, and that during that period Canada hatched 

 and planted in the Fraser twenty-five millions of sockeye fry. 



Canada began the propagation of sockeyes in the Fraser 

 in 1885 with the establishment of a hatchery at Bon Accord. 

 Between 1900 and 1907 Canada built five hatcheries on the 

 Fraser having a capacity of one hundred and ten million sock- 

 eye eggs, and she has since built two auxiliary stations. The 

 hatcheries built in 1901 at Shuswap and in 1903 at Seton 

 Lake, have been closed since 1914, because a sufficient num- 

 ber of eggs to warrant operations could not be collected from 

 the tributaries of those lakes. With the exception of the years 

 of the big run, the hatcheries of the Fraser River have never 

 been filled beyond thirty per cent of their capacity since 1905, 

 because eggs to fill them were unobtainable. 



Canada established a patrol force on the Fraser in 1878 

 and her waters have been effectively policed every year since. 

 Canada inaugurated a method for the inspection of the spawn- 

 ing area of the Fraser River basin in 1901, and has annu- 

 ally conducted such investigations every year since. No other 

 sockeye stream has received such close and discriminating 

 study. 



The reports from the spawning beds since 1901 have been 

 the basis of Canada's contentions. Following the disclosures 

 made in the reports from the spawning beds in 1902, 1903 

 and 1904, that there had been a great reduction in the numbers 

 of sockeyes that reached the beds in those years, and with the 

 knowledge that the catches in those years were also far less 

 than in the preceding four years, Canada laid the facts before 

 the Governor of the State of Washington, and obtained the 

 appointment of a joint commission to investigate conditions 

 affecting the salmon fishery of the Fraser River system. 

 That commission, consisting of five representatives from the 

 State of Washington and five from Canada, unanimously 

 reported that the runs of sockeyes to the system in the small 

 years had been seriously depleted by excessive fishing and were 

 in danger of being destroyed, and recommended that all fishing 



