314 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



to come together, so that the net can be gathered up from all sides in a 

 sort of bag. The contents are emptied into the canoes, the net is again 

 thrown over and spread out, and the watching resumed. Success 

 depends upon the net being hauled quickly and properly at the right 

 moment. Should the fish have turned before the first step is taken, 

 they are likely to escape wholly or in greater part. Constant vigilance 

 is required, but the Indians have become so exj)ert that they seldom 

 fail to land their catch, and their success seems to depend only on the 

 appearance of the fish in sufficient (luantity. 



When the fish are running well a large reef-net crew will consist of 

 10 to 15 Indians, as at Point Eoberts, but in some places the nets 

 are smaller and the crew may not contain more than 6 to 8 men. On 

 Cannery Point Eeef it is said that under exceptionally favorable condi- 

 tions a haul can be made every 2 or 3 nninutes, and a single large catch 

 may fill the two canoes. With fishing at its best a single net may 

 secure as many as 2,000 salmon in a day, but to do this the fishing 

 canoes must continue at their posts, the catch being transferred to shore 

 by other boats. In 1894 and 1895, however, scarcely anything was 

 accomplished with the reef nets in this locality. 



The proper time for fishing with these nets is during the set of both 

 the ebb and flood tide, when the current is running not swifter than 5 

 knots an hour. They can only be used in clear water, as it is essential 

 that The salmon should be plainly seen ; when the water is muddy or 

 the surface rough nothing can be done. While originally the Indians 

 employed this method only for a short period each season to supply 

 their own wants, in recent years they have found a ready sale for their 

 entire catch, wliich, consisting as it does mainly of sockeye, is in great 

 demand at the canneries. The money value of this species is now so 

 great that they retain only small quantities at the most for drying. 

 Reef-net fishing could not, however, be profitably followed by the 

 whites, owing to the number of hands required to operate the net and 

 the great loss of time resulting from unfavorable conditions of sea and 

 weather. The Indian reef-netters belong partly to the Lummi Reserva- 

 tion and partly to British Columbia. The latter fish chiefly about the 

 San Juan Islands, coming over specially for that purpose. 



What is probably the largest and has been the most productive 

 ground in the region for this kind of fishing is the reef directly south of 

 Cannery Point, at Point Roberts, which has been described in another 

 connection. From 15 to 20 nets were formerly fished here at a time, 

 and with much success; 16 were in operation in 1889, but in 1894 the 

 access of salmon to the reef had been so cut off by strings of trap nets 

 as practically to destroy its advantages, although the Indians still visit 

 it. Each crew had formerly two places to fish upon, one for high and 

 one for low water, in order to extend the hours of work, it being con- 

 sidered preferable that the water should not exceed 8 feet in de])th at 

 the time of fishing. 



