FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 289 



almost a solid mass, from which the stench produced by the dying fish 

 is said to be intolerable. The spawning season on the Fraser Eiver is 

 reported to be from the latter part of September to the middle of Octo- 

 ber, and the occasional association of the humpback with the sockeye 

 on the same grounds during this period has given trouble in securing 

 the eggs of the latter for the Canadian hatchery. 



The flesh of the humpback is of a very light pinkish color and much 

 softer than in the sockeye and quinnat, for which reasons the species is 

 not highly regarded for canning, and has been regularly used for that 

 purpose only at Seattle. The fish deteriorate rapidly, especially when 

 caught in large quantities and heaped in scows from the traps or seines. 

 Those in the lower layers, especially, soon become damaged and mis- 

 shapen and lose their scales, greatly detracting from their appearance. 

 ^Nevertheless, the humpbacks are considered by many as having excel- 

 lent food qualities when taken in the salt water, particularly during the 

 early part of the run. In some of the local markets they are sold fresh 

 in small quantities. On the Fraser they are salted and smoked for 

 export to China and other countries demanding a cheaper grade of 

 salmon, and many are taken and prepared by the Indians for their own 

 use, both in the fresh and salt waters. 



The output of the cannery at Seattle consists largely of the hump- 

 back, which, selling at a low price, finds a ready sale in the southern 

 part of the United States. The supplies for this cannery are obtained 

 mainly in the salt waters near and to the north of Seattle, by means of 

 drag seines hauled on the beaches. Small quantities are also brought 

 from some of the rivers. In the season of 1891, four seines operating 

 for this cannery made a total catch of 275,000 fish, but this represents 

 only a part of the fishery that was in progress that year. 



The local demands in other places along the shores are also chiefly 

 supplied through the agency of drag seines, while on the Fraser Eiver 

 the commercial fishery is by means of drift nets. The trap nets would 

 appear, however, to afford the best means for the capture of the hump- 

 back in the salt water, and they are sometimes so taken in immense 

 quantities during the sockeye run. In fact, they often compose by far 

 the larger part of the catch, and as it is generally impracticable to do 

 the sorting in the water at the net, the entire catch may be emptied 

 into scows and the overhauling take jilace at the wharves. Here the 

 humpback^ are culled out and discarded, causing a wholesale destruc- 

 tion of the species. There seems to be no immediate solution of the 

 problem as to how this loss might be prevented, but the question calls 

 for serious consideration, as incalculable harm may be done the supply 

 of humpback in the course of a few years, by which time its market 

 value is certain to be much increased. 



DOG SALMON. 



The dog salmon, Oncorhynchus Iceta (Walbaum), comes next after the 

 quinnat in size, but differs greatly from that species both in habits and 

 in the quality of its flesh, while its peculiar color markings readily dis 



F C 99 19 



