FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 335 



period. The priucipal disadvantage under which the species labors 

 arises from the fact that its spawning-grounds are almost entirely 

 restricted to two rivers, and in greater part to one, the Fraser, After 

 entering through the Strait of Juan de Fucaits course is so well known 

 and its j)resence so readily detected in many favorable localities that it 

 is compelled to run the gauntlet of a very active and persistent fishery, 

 which is stimulated by both local and international rivalry. While the 

 movement of the species may not continue over five or six weeks, the 

 amount and effectiveness of the apparatus employed for its capture 

 more than counterbalance the shortness of the season. Every year 

 adds new fishing stations and increases the quantity of nets about the 

 older ones at a rate that threatens overfishing at an early period. 



While the main body of the sockeye passes north through the two 

 channels on either side of the San Juan Islands, no noteworthy fishing 

 sites had been discovered south of Lummi Island at the last report. 

 The next and by far the best of the Washington grounds are about 

 Point Roberts, the principal trap-net locality, where the question of 

 greatest interest is to determine what proportion of the fish moving 

 about the i:)oint strike within the range of the long strings of nets. The 

 Canadian fishery is concentrated in the discolored water of the Fraser 

 River from above New Westminster to some distance off the delta, 

 where the conditions are such, moreover, that the entire run of sockeye 

 might be practically wiped out by an extreme multiplication of the drift 

 nets. In fact, in its possession of the Fraser River British Columbia 

 controls the main situation as regards this species, having within its 

 power the means of inflicting an incalculable amount of harm; while, 

 on the other hand, the preservation of the sockeye requires the concerted 

 action of both countries. 



The conditions are more serious in regard to the run of sockeye 

 which passes through Skagit Bay and into the river of the same name 

 than with the northern run. This is chiefly due to the narrow and shal- 

 low character of the bay, wliicli permits the arrangement of a close 

 network of apparatus, and judging from late accounts the fishery there 

 is being pushed with great persistency and with little thought of the 

 future. Any and all kinds of nets may be employed, which, in a 

 restricted area, is a great misfortune, and in other ways the laws are 

 also quite inadequate. 



The feature of periodicity in the relative size of the annual runs of 

 sockeye is of great interest, and its causes have given rise to much con- 

 jecture. Should its origin have been due, as some suppose, to local 

 influences affecting the species at its spawning-grounds, it would point 

 to a source of menace in that connection, but time has shown that there 

 is little occasion for anxiety on that score, and if the efforts now being 

 made to equalize the runs through artificial propagation turn out suc- 

 cessfully, all such natural dangers will be minimized. 



A much more imf)ortant phenomenon is the great mortality which 

 affects nearly all salmon at spawning time, and in the case of some 



