FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 263 



noticed in 1888 on the Fraser River, where in 189G it had become suffi- 

 ciently abundant to induce the fishery inspector to suggest regulations 

 governing its capture. It seems bound to occupy a prominent place 

 among the food-fishes of this region at no very distant time. 



Trout of several varieties are distributed in abundance throughout 

 the fresh waters, an attraction to anglers and a prospective source of 

 profit when the country shall have become more thickly settled. 



Aside from the sea otter, now extinct, the marine mammals have 

 never flgnred prominently among the local fishery products, although 

 some whaling has been carried on. The pelagic fur-seal fishery of the 

 ISTorth Pacific Ocean, however, has chiefly centered in the ports of this 

 region, furnishing employment to many hunters and producing a con- 

 siderable revenue, but its continuance is no longer profitable, in what- 

 ever way its future may be settled by negotiations. 



Among invertebrates this region is quite rich in edible mollusks and 

 crustaceans. The small native oyster, while occurring in manyjdaces, 

 is especially abundant in the shallow extensions of the southern part of 

 Puget Sound, where the beds have recently been given some care and 

 where quite an extensive business has been established. The intro- 

 duction of the Atlantic species has been agitated and a few small 

 plants have been made, but none of these has yet turned out success- 

 fully, so far as can be learned. Of clams there are several species of 

 small to large size, some of which are exceedingly abundant and quite 

 generally distributed. Although constituting an important resource, 

 and esteemed both for food and bait, they have not been very exten- 

 sively utilized up to the iiresent time. Small quantities have been put 

 up from time to time at one or more of the canneries. A large scallop 

 and a cockle are also conspicuous among the useful mollusks. 



Large crabs belonging to the genus Cancer are very common, and at 

 certain seasons come up on the shores, in some localities in large num- 

 bers. They are in great demand for food and are eagerly sought for, 

 although the total catch is small. The principal if not the only 

 ground where they are now regularly fished for is the shallow bottom 

 along the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Dunge- 

 ness and Port Williams. From there they are sent chiefly to Seattle, 

 Tacoma, and Victoria, but not being fitted to stand a long shipment 

 they are scarcely known at a distance from the coast. 



Shrimps and prawns of good quality seem to be plentiful, but they 

 are not much fished for, and little information regarding them could be 

 obtained. The habits of these forms are such as to place them gener- 

 ally outside the ordinary range of observation, so that fishermen may 

 be scarcely aware of their presence, when an active search might dis- 

 close them in abundance. At least two si^ecies of prawns are brought 

 to market, one of rather large size, the other smaller. They have so 

 far been taken i^rincipally about Victoria and in the southern part of 

 Puget Sound, the catch being generally quite inadequate to satisfy 

 the demand. The shrimps are much smaller and are not fished for. 



