306 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



thus covering a large part of the quiiinat run and all of that of the 

 sock eye. Before it becomes suliiciently marked to obscure the nets, the 

 quinnat fishery is mostly carried on at night. 



This drift-net fishery was being carried ou in a small way as early 

 as 1875 at least, but in the beginning it seems to have been entirely 

 confined within the river. Finding, however, that good fishing by this 

 means could be obtained outside the delta, the fishermen began by 1885 

 to resort to the "saudheads" off the south arm, from which point the 

 area of their operations has been extended until by 1891 it reached 

 as far offshore as does the intensely muddy water of the Fraser. 

 Wherever this condition exists the sockeye can be taken in drift nets 

 as readily and in as great abundance as in the river itself. This exten- 

 sion of the grounds has given opportunity for a greatly increased catch, 

 and has caused the bulk of the fishery to be centered within a radius 

 of 6 or 8 miles of the river mouth, upstream in one direction and out 

 in the Gulf of Georgia in the other. 



Drift-net fishing in the Fraser is restricted by law to that part of its 

 course which is influenced by the tide, the upper limit being placed 

 at Sumas Elver, between 50 and 60 miles above the mouth of the main 

 river. Comparatively little, however, is done above Kew Westminster, 

 though there are in this upi)er section a few good drifting-places 

 during high water, where the quinnat are taken in the spring and the 

 sockeye in July, but generally in August the river becomes so low as 

 to interfere with operations. During a short period in each week of 

 July and August, immediately following the weekly close time, drifting 

 may be carried on largely about New Westminster and thence down- 

 stream, but as a whole by far the greater part of the fishery is limited 

 to the lower 6 to 8 miles of the river and the outside grounds. This 

 is explained by the fact that the current is not so strong below, there 

 is more room and more certainty of a sailing breeze upstream to renew 

 the drift, and comj)etition naturally impels the fishermen to seek the 

 grounds nearest to where the fish first appear, in their efforts to secure 

 some advantage. The canneries have also become mainly concentrated 

 along the lower part of the river, especially in the vicinity of Ladner, 

 and at Stevestou, where they are convenient to the fishing-grounds now 

 mostly resorted to. Fishing is carried on in all three branches of the 

 delta, the main channel, the Korth Arm, and Canoe Pass. 



Outside the river there are no legal restrictions upon the extent of 

 the grounds, their limits being solely defined by the opportunities for 

 securing fish. As explained in the account of that species, the sockeye 

 assemble in front of the delta, coming apparently both from the south 

 and west, and occupying a considerable area both ou and off the edges 

 of the bank which stretches from Point Grey to Point Roberts. The 

 discolored water permits the use of drift nets as far north as Point 

 Grey, as far south as the boundary line, and to a distance of at least 5 

 or 6 miles offshore in the direction of Vancouver Island. The heaviest 

 part of the fishing is done off the main entrance and Canoe Pass, 



