286 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



There is some uncertainty regarding the length of stay of the coho in 

 the salt waters of this region. From what appears to be good authority 

 it was learned that individuals have occasionally been caught by troll- 

 ing in the spring and early winter. It has a well-defined run, however, 

 and occurs abundantly only during a limited season, lasting generally 

 about six weeks. The date of its first appearance varies in different 

 years, as well as in different places during any one year. The schools 

 are expected to arrive between the middle of August and the first few 

 days in September, being reported earliest at points along the Strait of 

 Juan de Fuca, sometimes, it is said, before the middle of August. 



In Puget Sound the earliest recorded catch for the Seattle cannery 

 was made on August 28, 1889. In connection with the fishery in that 

 locality no i)reparation is made for taking silver salmon before Septem- 

 ber 4, and no reliance is placed on the species after October 23, though 

 large supplies have been obtained as late as October 28 in the vicinity 

 of Everett, while in other localities the fishery has continued until 

 November 1. A few may even be taken as late as between the middle 

 of iSTovember and 1st of December, after which they are rarely seen. 



In the Fraser River, while the coho may begin ascending even before 

 the sockeye season has fairly closed, they are not expected to run abun- 

 dantly until about September 10. Their movement continues through 

 most or all of October, but the duration of the main run is said to be 

 only from four to six weeks. The date of running in the other rivers is 

 probably about the same. A few may appear in the Washington rivers 

 as early as August 15 to 20, but they do not become abundant until some 

 time later, and may continue ascending until the last of October. 



The silver salmon become widely disseminated through Puget Sound 

 and the Gulf of Georgia, and enter many of the narrower channels 

 among the islands, in which respect they differ from the sockeye. 

 They ascend the smaller as well as the larger streams of the region, 

 but in the Fraser Eiver they apparently do not proceed very far above 

 the sea. Much of their spawning-gTound is just beyond the influence 

 of the brackish water, and for spawning purposes they may enter even 

 little creeks and rivulets in which the water seems scarcely deep enough 

 to admit them. 



Their spawning season, according to the testimony of Canadian 

 experts, begins about the middle of October and continues until about 

 January, but it is supposed to occur mainly during November. In 1885 

 a few thousand eggs were hatched artificially at the Canadian hatchery 

 on the Fraser River, but no serious attempt has been made to increase 

 the abundance of the species by this means. 



The silver salmon are described as active rovers in the salt water, 

 and their babit of leaping makes them readily distinguishable at the 

 surface. They occur in large bodies and also thinly scattered over 

 extensive areas, being erratic in their movements and often changing 

 their position rapidly. Near the close of October, 1886, after the fishing 

 season had apparently ended, schools \yere reported off the tow n of 



