FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 283 



in the Fraser Eiver during the winter than in the salmon rivers of the 

 Atlantic coast. Parr kept to the age of seven months attained a length 

 of 3 to 4 inches. The total number of fry planted during the five years 

 was only about 6,000,000, an amount quite insufficient to have any 

 appreciable effect toward increasing the supply.* 



Yery little information was obtained regarding the runs in other 

 rivers than the Fraser, as not mucli fishing is done in any of them, but 

 the seasons are essentially the same in all, so far as could be learned. 

 We were told, by a close observer acquainted with the region, that in 

 the Cowichan and Nanaimo rivers of southeastern Yancouver Island 

 they begin running about the time the snow freshet commences in 

 February. During the early part of the season they ascend leisurely, 

 stopping in the pools, where good sport fishing may be had, and finally 

 reaching the lakes at the head of both rivers, where they remain until 

 the spawning time. Later runs occur up to and including the early fall. 

 In Washington the Skagit Eiver furnishes the largest catches which 

 reach the Seattle market, but they are regularly fished for on several 

 other rivers. 



Eighteen pounds is given as a fair average size for the quinnat on the 

 Fraser Kiver, but in the Seattle market the average was placed between 

 20 and 25 jiounds. In the market catch they range down to about 10 

 pounds, and individuals weighing 40 to 50 pounds are taken to some 

 extent. The extreme sizes brought to our notice were 60, 70, and 80 

 pounds, but these are rare. 



Xotwithstanding the generally high esteem in which the quinnat 

 salmon is held, it exhibits in this region a remarkable peculiarity, 

 only exceptionally occurring elsewhere, which seriously affects its sale. 

 While in some of the fish the flesh has its ordinary deei) pink color, in 

 others the flesh is white, or only slightly tinged with pink. All inter- 

 mediate gradations of coloration, as well as intermixtures of the two, 

 occur, and no degree of this variation is distinguishable from the out- 

 side. One end of the fish may be pink and the other white or the two 

 sides may differ in this respect. White stripes may extend through 

 the pink meat, or the reverse, and spots of one color may be dissemi- 

 nated through a mass of the other. In the paler fish the color may 

 greatly fade or disappear entirely during the process of cooking, salt- 

 ing, or canning. In a letter transmitting specimens to Washington for 

 examination, in 1887, Mr. Mowat describes the conditions as follows: 



I find that some of the run are pure white ; some are very pale pink ; some a little 

 darker, and others of a fair color, like the samples sent. I also find that some are 

 white on the outside near the skin for about 1 inch in depth, then gradually turn 

 a pale pink, deepening in color as the bone is reached. A few fish of this description 



* Since the above was written information has been received regarding a private 

 hatchery built on Samish Lake, near Fairhaveu, Wash., iu the tall of 1898, in which 

 about 200,000 quinnat eggs from the Columbia River were at once placed, and also 

 about 100,000 eggs of the silver salmon from local sources. An effort is being made 

 to have the State assume the expense of running this hatchery and to have its 

 capacity enlarged. 



