FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 265 



south, but passes directly aud in successive bodies through the Strait of 

 Juan de Fuca toward the spawuiug-grouuds. During their passage up 

 the strait at least the bulk of the fish appears to keep iu the deeper 

 water or below the surface until approaching the vicinity of Victoria. 

 At any rate, notwithstanding some statements to the contrary, no reli- 

 able evidence has been secured indicating that this species has been 

 seen or captured farther west. In view of the number of fishing and 

 other craft which navigate tliis channel, and the diligent manner in 

 which the sockeye have been searched for iu several localities, it would 

 be strange if their occurrence in any numbers could have been over- 

 looked. Further observations, however, may disprove this conclusion. 

 A run of sockeye is said to enter Port San Juan, op|)osite Neah Bay, 

 but it evidently belongs to the coastwise schools of smaller fish. 



The place where the fish are first known to disclose themselves is at 

 the southeastern corner of Vancouver Island, between Sooke Inlet and 

 Becher Bay, and here the Indians begin their capture, though their 

 fishery is a very small one. This point is regarded rather in the light 

 of a signal station from which the approach of the first as also of the 

 succeeding bodies is heralded to the more important stations farther 

 along their course. IS^ews from Becher Bay is anxiously awaited, and 

 its receipt hastens the final preparations for the large and active fishery 

 which immediately follows. 



They next appear off Eace Rocks, where, however, the tidal currents 

 are so strong that fishing operations have never been successfully 

 carried on. 



Having completed their journey through the strait the great bulk of 

 the sockeye turn northward, having the Fraser River as their destina- 

 tion, the number which enters the fresh waters iu the State of Wash- 

 ington being relatively small. In their movement north the schools 

 divide or separate, so as to make use of the two principal channels on 

 either side of the San Juan Islands, the Canal de Haro and Rosario 

 Strait, but they avoid the narrower passageways between these islands. 



In the Canal de Haro the sockeye have been noticed at several points 

 along the shore of San Juan Island, especially off Kanaka Bay and in 

 the neighborhood of Henry Island, but all attempts at fishing in this 

 section by the whites have so far met with indifferent success. The 

 Indians take them in their reef nets about Stuart Island, and they have 

 been recorded from off Saturna Island. It is probable that the main 

 run works into the Gulf of Georgia through the wider channels 

 between these islands, but it is also certain that a considerable body 

 makes use of Plumper or Active Pass, between Mayne and Galiauo 

 islands, which is the most direct route to the Fraser River mouths. It 

 is said, however, that no sockeye pass to the west of Salt Spring or 

 Admiral Island, and the species is understood to avoid entirely the 

 eastern coast and eastern rivers of Vancouver Island. 



The sockeye making for Rosario Strait strike iu abundantly off Cattle 

 Point, at the southeastern corner of San Juan Island, furnishing oppor- 



