Ward. — Migration of the Sockeye Salmon 411 



be astonished and dismayed at the sight if he chance to stumble 

 on such a place and to see a lot of fine fish scattered over the 

 grass or among the bushes alongside of the stream. But a 

 Httle analysis will serve to show the relation of the occurrence 

 to the salmon run in a fairer light. The places on any stream 

 where this can happen are not numerous, the days on which 

 it is possible are certainly few, stages of water, hours of day- 

 light and periods of salmon migration being duly considered; 

 and finally the bears are after all few in number. In conse- 

 quence the total loss due to the work of the bears is not large 

 in comparison with the number of fish that visit a given 

 stream. It is unquestionably much less than the losses due 

 to low water, or the accidental obstruction of a stream. It is 

 trivial compared to the toll of fish taken for commercial pur- 

 poses and could be made good several times over if only part 

 of the wastage in the commercial fisheries were eliminated. 



REGULATION OF SALMON FISHERIES 



The bearing of these facts on the questions of fish con- 

 servation, the effective regulations that should be adopted, and 

 the degree to which their enforcement is essential, can be set 

 down in brief form. 



Among the various plans which have been adopted in dif- 

 ferent places to regulate salmon fisheries and to permit the 

 adequate visitation of the spawning grounds, is one to allow 

 intensive fishing up to certain limits and to stop the taking 

 of fish at that time so that the remainder of the run may reach 

 the spawning ground unhindered. The limits set have some- 

 times conformed to the calendar, so that fishing was permitted 

 within certain dates and absolutely prohibited before and after 

 the limit, or the restriction may have taken the form of limit- 

 ing the pack, so that a fixed catch or definite output was 

 granted to the cannerymen, and when that limit had been 

 reached all fishing was stopped, so that the salmon arriving 

 subsequently passed unhindered up the stream. 



There are evident difficulties in this procedure, and some 



