322 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



POLLUTIONS AND REFUSE. 



There seem at present to be no sources of pollution in this region 

 which can be considered as positively detrimental to the fisheries in 

 the salt water, and the same also appears to be mainly true as regards 

 the rivers, except as to some localities of limited extent. This may be 

 accounted for in greater part by the scarcity of large settlements and 

 the generally low temperature of the water. 



Sawmills have been built on many of the rivers, on some of them 

 quite extensively, and the large amount of refuse which they produce 

 may, unless suitably cared for, be the cause of great and irreparable 

 injury, as has been so strikingly illustrated on the rivers along the 

 Atlantic coast. On the Fraser River the number of mills is not great, 

 and the laws regarding the proper disposition of the sawdust are said 

 to be quite generally observed. In Washington, while the tlirowing of 

 sawdust into the streams is prohibited, it is reported that the regula- 

 tions had not been well enforced, although some change may recently 

 have taken place in that respect. Attention has been especially called 

 to the Skagit River, on whose banks there are numerous shingle mills, 

 from which a very large amount of refuse is allowed to enter the water. 

 According to the statements from the fishermen in that region, this 

 practice has caused a great deal of damage to the spawning-grounds of 

 the salmon and has affected the flsliery in other ways. 



The projjer disposition of the offal produced in connection with can- 

 ning operations presents a problem of very great importance for this 

 region, especially as regards the Fraser River, where the industry is 

 most extensive. The refuse from this source, consisting of the heads, 

 fins, tails, and entrails, has as yet no market value and must be quickly 

 disposed of. Its quantity is very great, equaling at the lowest calcu- 

 lation more than one-fourth the total weight of the fish utilized, and 

 at this rate amounting to from 650 to .'>,80() tons annually on the Fraser 

 River alone. In many cases it runs up to 40 and even 50 per cent. 

 When it is further considered that the season lasts only from four to 

 six weeks, and that the bulk of the fish comes in spurts, lasting only a 

 few days each, the difficulties of the situation can be fully realized. 

 The generally i)revalent custom is to allow the refuse in its fresh con- 

 dition to drop into the water underneath or alongside of the cannery. 

 As the water of this region, both at sea and in the rivers, has a rela- 

 tively low temperature at all times, this i)ractice is less open to objection 

 than would be the case in a warmer climate. 



The Washington canneries are all located on the salt water in more 

 or less exposed positions, where the tide generally runs strongly and 

 the depth increases rapidly. The greater i^art of the refuse disappears 

 at once and is never heard of, although in some places a certain propor- 

 tion may be washed upon the shores. There is no reason to believe 



