160 Tzvciity-iiiiif/i ^iimiial Meeting 



salmon die after spawning just as much as after swimming thou- 

 sands of miles ; they find that out to be a fact that they will die any- 

 way after they spawn, whether after undergoing the hardships of 

 leaping falls or not. 



Dr. James : I believe that is so, that some fish will die after 

 they have performed the act ; the habits of different fishes are, of 

 course, known to those who have been observing them carefully. 



Mr. Clark : I would like to ask Mr. Hubbard, as he has had 

 much experience on the Pacific coast, if in his judgment it is some- 

 thing in relation to the act of spawning that kills the Pacific sal- 

 mon, or is it due to their hard work reaching the spawnmg 

 grounds ? 



Air. Hu]>ljard : My opinion is that the salmon arrive at their 

 spawning grounds in fairly good condition. Of coufse, the longer 

 tliey are in fresh water the weaker they will get, but the majority 

 arrive in fairly good condition. The act of spawning is very 

 exhaustive, and they are worn out, and it seems to be the nature 

 of Ihem to die after performing the act. 



Mr. Clark : Then you are not positive that it is the work, or 

 lack of food, or act O'f performing the:ir functions, or all three 

 combined ? 



]\Ir. Hubbard : I think it is the nature of the fish to die after 

 spawning. 



Mr. Clark : In holding whitefish in crates and in handling 

 them in our spawning work, they receive injuries so that I don't 

 believe three out of a hundred would live long if put back into the 

 river. We held some of our whitefisi. .,. ---cites nearly two months 

 last fall, but. of course, they had no food during that time. 



Mr. Ravenel: Except that they were held in the river. 



Mr. Clark : That is true ; but we examined them and found 

 nothing in their stomachs, so they didn't eat ; and those fish at the 

 end of that time were apparently in just as good condition as when 

 put in the crates. 



Mr. Davis : In regard to whitefish eating, it seems as if they 

 did just about as well without food as with. We have a couple 

 of whitefish weighing about two pounds apiece ; I think they were 



