266 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



tuiiities for trap-uet fishing, and also off tbe southern end of Lopez 

 Island, directly east of San Juan Channel entrance, where for many 

 years the Indians have made successful catches on the kelp-covered 

 reefs. From near this point an offshoot of the run makes through 

 Deception Pass into Skagit Bay and thence reaches the Skagit River, 

 which, so far as known, is the only stream in this part of Washington 

 which tlie sockeye enter in appreciable numbers, but the quantity is 

 much smaller than in the Fraser River, Some sockeye work farther 

 south, but where they leave the main run is not known and the quantity 

 that moves in that direction is insignificant. They have never been 

 reported from the salt waters of Pnget Sound south of the neighborhood 

 of the San Juan Islands, but have been observed in one or more of the 

 small rivers which empty into it in that region. 



The main eastern run, after passing around the southern end of the 

 San Juan group, proceeds up through Rosario Strait and along the 

 mainland of Washington to Boundary ^ay and Point Roberts. During 

 the first part of this movement, however, the fish seem to keep mostly 

 out of sight, to the great bewilderment of the fishermen, who have 

 been much puzzled at their failure to find good places for intercei^ting 

 them. They have been reported in small quantities at the entrance 

 to Belliugham Bay, but in Rosario Strait there are no distinctive 

 places where they have been noticed abundantly before reaching the 

 northern end of Lummi Island. Here they strike directly on the outer 

 shore south of Village Point, where there is an imjjortant fishing-ground, 

 both for reef nets and traps, which has long been resorted to by 

 the Indians. Thence northward along the mainland shore as far as 

 Boundary Bay they appear at intervals, but while nets have been set 

 for their capture on some of the more iiromiuent points, none of these 

 had given satisfaction up to 1895, but whether on account of faulty 

 construction or the scarcity of fish was not learned. The fishermen, 

 however, have been encouraged to renewed attempts in this section and 

 may yet succeed. 



Boundary Bay and the waters about Point Roberts constitute a 

 grand parade-ground of the sockeye, as it is here that the species 

 uncovers itself in the greatest numbers in the salt water and to the 

 best advantage for its pursuers. The quantity that appears at times 

 is very large, and the catch may be enormous. The abrupt bending of 

 the coast line toward the west in this locality interposes a barrier 

 directly across the pathway of the fish, suddenly checking their prog- 

 ress toward the north and obliging them to make a sharp detour in 

 order to complete their passage to the Fraser River. They enter 

 Boundary Bay apparently in a broad front, and then turn westward, 

 sweeijing around Point Roberts. The nearness of their approach to 

 land depends upon the depth of water and the direction of the wind. 

 A southerly wind tends to drive them farther in the ba}^, while a 

 northerly wind holds them out. They may enter the bay as far as the 

 edge of the flats, thus crossing the boundary line to a slight extent, but 



