Ward. — Migration of the Sockeye Salmon 415 



of land are devoted to agricultural purposes, the volume of 

 the streams will diminish. As lakes are dammed to make 

 reservoirs for irrigation or for hydro-electric power, spawn- 

 ing grounds will be necessarily covered and areas that were 

 formerly resorted to regularly will become unsuitable for the 

 spawning of salmon. It will evidently be impossible to pre- 

 serve exclusively for the use of the fish all of the streams 

 and all of the spawning grounds upon which they were de- 

 pendent under natural conditions. 



Of course, fish culturists and all of those interested in the 

 preservation of the fish fauna and in the utilization of this 

 important type of food will exert every influence to keep con- 

 ditions so that spawning may continue to be possible on the 

 old grounds. It is not my thought at all to suggest that the 

 arbitrary changing of channels or filling of streams should be 

 approved, or that the building of dams without fishways 

 should be countenanced. Unnecessary waste and easily avoid- 

 able losses should be guarded against constantly so that our 

 magnificent natural resources in fish life may not be wan- 

 tonly destroyed. Least of all would any thoughtful person 

 seek to excuse the sins of cities and of manufacturing plants 

 which are pouring immense amounts of city sewage or of in- 

 dustrial wastes into streams and are reducing fertile aquatic 

 feeding grounds to barren and loathsome aquatic deserts. The 

 barbarous practices of commonly passing the expenses of the 

 city or of the industry on to those who have rights on the 

 stream lower down, or would utilize it for rational pleasure 

 and profit, deserve the severest condemnation and should be 

 done away with by legal measures and at the earliest pos- 

 sible date. 



However, if all of these unreasonable and avoidable de- 

 structive tendencies have been eliminated, there still remain 

 legitimate and unavoidable limitations set by the changed con- 

 ditions which will modify the water courses frequented by the 

 salmon sufficiently to exert a serious influence upon the supply 



