340 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



when the catch becomes enormous and sometimes far exceeds the 

 capacity of all the establishments — including the canneries — concerned 

 in preparing the fish for market. Considering the shortness of the 

 season, the size of the fishery is all the more remarkable. 



The manner of using the nets on the Eraser Eiver is also subject to 

 certain regulations. They must not, for instance, obstruct more than 

 one-third the width of the river and must be kept at least 250 yards 

 ai)art. These measures are designed to maintain an open passageway 

 for the salmon, in which they are protective, and also — the latter one at 

 least — to j)revent one fisherman from interfering with another. In 

 principle they are correct, and they would also be good in practice, 

 except that it has not been found possible to carry them out effectively, 

 especially since the nets have become so numerous. Moving continu- 

 ously as they do, they are to a large extent uncontrollable, while the 

 tendency to concentrate the fishing over a small area near the river 

 mouths leads to some crowding. In some places the river channel is 

 not large enough to leave two-thirds of its width free when the net is 

 placed, and again it is entirely possible to alternate the nets so as to 

 virtually negative the intent of the law. 



Although gill nets were among the earlier appliances utilized in 

 Washington, they have never been employed there as extensively or 

 systematically as in British Columbia. They are used in both fresh and 

 salt water, either set or drifting, as suits the jileasure of the fishermen, 

 and are subject only to restrictions governing their distance apart and 

 the width of the river which they may occupy. In certain places, as 

 in Skagit Bay and River, they have become a prominent feature, and 

 their number maybe expe(;ted to increase. In Skagit Bay competition 

 with the trap nets has engendered an intensely bitter feeling, leading 

 to a strenuous though ineffectual effort on the part of the gill-netters 

 to secure the abolition of the larger nets. 



The use of trap nets is prohibited in British Columbian waters, except 

 in the upper part of Boundary Bay, where the fish taken are headed 

 toward the neighboring traps across the line. Within the past few 

 years these nets have become a prominent feature in Washington, 

 where they rank as the most effective apparatus employed in the salt 

 water. Their introduction had special reference to the sockeye, which 

 had- previously been mainly fished for in sheltered places along the 

 shores with seines and gill nets. They met with very indifferent suc- 

 cess at first, but experience soon dictated the necessary changes in 

 construction and position to insure good catches. The earliest trials 

 were made at Point Eoberts, which has proved to be by far the most 

 profitable location for their use, and where their number has always 

 exceeded the total number elsewhere. The other principal fishing- 

 grounds are near Village Point, on the outer side of Lumrai Island, the 

 southern end of San Juan Island, and Skagit Bay, all lying in the 

 pathway of the sockeye runs. 



