I 



.-liiicncaii Fishi'iics Socicly. 155 



or ])ickcts which arc sutitioiciuly close toj^ethcr to ])rt'vont the 

 fish from passing- l)it\\ccn them, and liiiili cnoiis^h to ])rcchi(lc all 

 danger of ihoir jumi)iriLi- over, the lower end of course restiu},; 

 tipon the ])ottom. This harrier prevents the fisli from ascending 

 the stream, antl a;~ it is their nature to ]>us]i their wav as far as 

 there is water stifticient for them to swim in, and as they never 

 cease the strug^gle and turn l)av~k, lav,i;e numbers cono^refj^atc just 

 below the barrier, wliich is usually placed just above a deep 

 hole where the fish lie during" the ripcnini^^ jieriod before seekinpc 

 the rit^ies and shoals upon which to spawn. Watch is then kept 

 of the movements of the fish, and as soon as any are seen on the 

 rit'lles fishing' commences. Fhe fish are taken either with a seine, 

 or are catigiit in a down stream traj) into which the fish are 

 driven bv g'oing above ihem with a seine, and frightening them 

 so that they make a rush down the stream and are crowded into 

 iIk, traps, from which they are taken and the ripe ones put into 

 crates, wliere they are held for the next day's spawning. The 

 latter method of taking the fish is ])referred when the nature of 

 the stream will admit of it. The green fish taken are always 

 liberated, as they will not go away, and thus the fishing is con- 

 tinued until the sj^aw ning- season is over, anrl practically every 

 fish that entered the stream lias been handled. 



The need of carrying- on this work im as large a scale as 

 l^ossible will be more readily understood when it is more gener- 

 allv known how totally lacking the salmon is in that instinct that 

 prompts the two sexes to seek each other for the purpose oi re- 

 ]iroduction. The writer has had an excellent opi)ortunity durino: 

 three entire spawning seasons to study this trait in the salmon 

 and never but once has he seen the two sexes together perform- 

 ing the functions necessary to fertilize the cgg^s as th.ey are 

 ejected by the female, and in conversin.g with others who have 

 had ample onportunitv for observing these fishes for years, I 

 have never met a man who had ever seen the two sexes together 

 at this time, as we so often see in other fishes such as the black 

 bass, catfish, sunfishes. and many others, and for this reason it is 

 safe to sav that not one egg in one thousand is fertilized when 



