118 



SALMON 



court of the net, from which they cannot find the 

 way of escape. In deep water, where stake-nets 

 cannot li-h. another species of fixed engine termed 

 a bag-net i- employed, which i- equal)}' deadly in 

 its operations ; and sometime!) stake and bag nets 

 are combined in the same fixed engine, the stake- 

 net occupying the foreshore, or space between high 

 and low water mark, and the bog-net extending 

 into the deep water beyond. 



Cruiva are the only fixed engines which can l>e 

 legally used in rivers by those who have special 

 titles to cruive-lishings. There is what is termed 

 the cniive-box in the cruive dam or dike into which 

 salmon are guided by a peculiar sort of grating 

 called the instates, and from which they cannot 

 escape. In Scotland cruives are regulated by a 

 bylaw forming part of the Salmon-fishery Acts 

 of 1862 and 1868. In Ireland there must be what 

 is termed a 'free gap' in every cruire-dike extend- 

 ing down to the bed of the river, the width of the 

 gap being regulated by the width of the river. 



In rivers only movable nets can be used for the 

 capture of salmon. Of these, the most common 

 and universal is that form of fishing known as net 

 and coble. In this a small boat, or salmon coble, 

 is used to carry out a seine-net from the shore, 

 setting (shooting) it with a circular sweep, the con- 

 cavity of which is towards the stream or tide, and 

 men stationed on shore pull ropes so as to bring it 

 in by both ends at once with whatever it may have 

 enclosed. Coracles (q.r.) are used in salmon- 

 fishing in the Severn and other Welsh rivers. Nets 

 which a single man can carry and work are also 

 nseil in many rivers and estuaries, as those called 

 halve-nets on the Solway, which may be described 

 as a bag attached to a pole. 



Those rivers of Britain where the fishing is 

 strictly preserved still afford good sport, the Alter- 

 deenshire Dee having yielded 5000 salmon and 

 grilse to the rod in a single year; but many anglers 

 betake themselves to Norway or even Canada for 

 their favourite sport. Recently the salmon and 

 other fish of the rivers of Britain have suffered 

 terribly from the so-called Salmon Disease (see 

 below). Much labour has been spent on the suc- 

 cessful acclimatisation of salmon in New Zealand 

 and Tasmania. 



The SALMON -TROUT (S. trutta, or Fario argent- 

 ens), also commonly called the Sea-trout, is rather 

 thicker in proportion to its length than a salmon 

 of the same size, and has the hinder free margin of the 

 gill-cover less rounded. The jaws are nearly equal ; 

 the teeth strong, sharp, and curved, a single row 

 running down the vomer, and pointing alternately 

 in opposite directions. The colours are very similar 

 to those of the salmon ; the sides, chiefly above the 

 lateral line, are marked with numerous X-shaped 

 dusky spots, and there are several round dusky 

 spots on the gill-covers. The salmon-trout does 

 not attain so large a size as the salmon, but has 

 been known to reach 24J Ib. The flesh is pink, 

 richly flavoured, and much esteemed, although not 

 equal to that of the salmon, (in'iit quantities of 

 salmon-trout are brought to market in London and 

 other British towns ; tliis li-li being found from the 

 Month of England to the north of Scotland, in 

 Orkney and Shetland, and in the Outer and Inner 

 Hebrides. Its habit* are generally similar to those 

 if the salmon. I^arge shoals sometimes congregate 

 near the mouth of a river which they are almut to 

 enter, and sometimes afford excellent sport to the 

 iingler in a bay or estuary, rising readily to the fly. 

 Tin- young are not easily to In- distinguished from 

 parr. Finnncks, Ilerling, ami Whitlinff are local 

 names of the salmon trout on its first return from 

 the sea to fresh water, when it has its most silvery 

 appearance, in which state it has sometimes been 

 described as a distinct species (S. albus). 



The Gray Trout or Bull-trout (S. mar), the only 

 other migratory British species, is already noticed 

 in the article DOLL-TKOUT. The gill-cover in this 

 species is more elongated backward* at the lower 

 angle than in the other two. On the luniks of the 

 Tweed and some other riveis it is often called the 

 i rout, a name quite as appropriate to it as to 

 the salmon-trout. The seasons at which the gray 

 trout ascends rivers are partly the same with those 

 of the salmon and salmon-trout, mill partly different. 

 The laws relative to the fishing of salmon apply 

 equally to the bull-trout. 



The most conspicuous addition which has re- 

 cently lieen mode to the snliimn-producing coun- 

 tries of the world is the va-t territory of Alaska 

 in north-western America. When it was liought 

 from Russia its chief commercial importance arose 

 from the value of the furs which it produced. 

 Now, since the American occupation, the value of 

 the salmon-fisheries is far greater than that of the 

 furs the former yielding 3 millions of dollars 

 annually, and the latter only 1 million. And, as 

 yet, this great salmon industry is hut partially 

 and imperfectly developed, for Mr Bean, ichthy- 

 ologist to the United States Fish Commission, 

 assures us that it is capable, under judicious 

 management, of being doubled in value. The 

 largest and finest of the Alaskan salmon is the 

 King or Chowichee Salmon, also known as 

 Takon, Chinnook, Quinnat, and Columbia River 

 Salmon (S. quinnat ; in the American reports, 

 Oncorhynchiis chmviclia). This valuable fish is 

 found in the larger rivers as a rule, but runs also 

 into some of the smaller streams. The Yukon and 

 the Nnshagak are the principal king salmon rivers. 

 The average weight or this salmon is about 20 Ib., 

 and individuals weighing upwards of 100 Ib. are on 

 record. The flesh of the king salmon is superior 

 in flavour to that of all the other species of 

 Alaskan salmon. The king salmon is a great 

 traveller, ascending the Yukon more than 1500 

 miles from its mouth, travelling at the rate of 

 from 20 to 40 miles a day. Another Alaskan 

 salmon is the Dog Salmon (0. keta), so called 

 from the size of the teeth and the way in which 

 the iaws become enlarged and distorted during 

 the breeding season ; it is the most important 

 species to the natives, but is not used by the 

 Americans. The Humpback Salmon (0. gor- 

 liiisrha), so called l>ecause of the enormous hump 

 developed on the bock of the male during the 

 breeding season, is the most abundant salmon of 

 Alaska, and comes in enormous shoals, so that 

 when they enter a stream in force they fill the 

 water from shore to shore, and from top to 

 bottom. It is the smallest of the Pacilic salmon, 

 ranging from 5 to 10 Ib. The next most abundant 

 salmon, and commercially the most important, is 

 the Red Salmon (0. nerka), averaging from 7 to 

 15 Ib. In 1889 there were thirty-six canneries 

 in operation in Alaska, situated principally in 

 the southern part of the territory. Nearly one- 

 third were established on the Kadiak group of 

 islands, and covered about one-half of the Alaskan 

 catch. Sixty-six large vessels were engaged in 

 carrying the equipment and workmen for these 

 canneries and the product of their industry. Hun- 

 dreds of lioats are employed in the business of 

 fishing, which is principally carried on by huge 

 seine-nets. The seining is done chiefly by white 

 men, and the work inside the canneries by Chinese. 

 It i- estimated that 4000 men are engaged in the 

 salmon-fishing. In 1889 the capital invested was 

 nearly 4 millions of dollars, ami the value of the 

 pack, at an average price of 5 dollars per case, was 

 .'I millions of dollars. Eight millions and a half of 

 salmon were captured, or about one-half of the 

 whole yield of salmon in the United States. The 



